The post-Zeran rule of Section 230 holds that online platforms (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, etc.) are not liable for content posted by users or third parties, treating them more as “distributors” than publishers.
At common law, a publisher is defined as someone liable for the content they publish, even if there’s no proof that they had specific knowledge of the statement’s falsity. Distributors, on the hand, aren’t held liable for what they distribute unless they’re aware of the defamatory nature of the content and fail to retract, correct, or remove the defamatory statements.
In Zeran, the court held that AOL is legally a publisher and thus falls under the protection of Section 230. Therefore, they cannot be held liable for a defamatory post that a third party had made about Zeran. After Zeran, if you find a defamatory post about you on AOL, you cannot sue AOL because it is immune from liability under Section 230. Further, even if you were to contact AOL about the post, they would still be immune from liability unless they have actual knowledge of the post’s defamatory nature.
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