Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act: A "Good Samaritan" Law Without the Requirement of Acting as a "Good Samaritan"

Abstract

When Congress enacted Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, it made an implicit deal with every Interactive Computer Service (ICS): at least attempt to clean your website of defamatory or otherwise illegal third-party content in exchange for immunity from vicarious liability. However, the majority of courts applying Section 230 have since construed this aptly-titled "good Samaritan" law as a grant of blanket ICS immunity, offering protection regardless of whether an ICS actually regulates or edits its website. This piece analyzes an aparent split among the circuit courts, and explains that blanket ICS immunity does not square with Congress' underlying intent of encouraging ICS self-regulation. In the end, this article highlights four potential scenarios in which an ICS could lose its Section 230 "good Samaritan" immunity status when it does not act like a "good Samaritan."