Federal Judge John F. Grady of the Northern District of Illinois has ruled that the Craigslist website cannot be sued for prostitution ads placed by its users.
Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart filed the suit seeking a court order to shut down the adult services section of Craigslist and to be reimbursed for the costs incurred by the Sheriff's Department in policing hookers and johns. The suit was dismissed.
In a 22-page decision, Judge Grady wrote that a provision of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) precludes culpability for any user-supplied ads.
"Craigslist does not 'provide' that information, its users do," Grady wrote. "'Facilitating' and 'assisting' encompass a broader range of conduct, so broad in fact that they include the services provided by intermediaries like phone companies, ISPs, and computer manufacturers. Intermediaries are not culpable for 'aiding and abetting' their customers who misuse their services to commit unlawful acts."In summary, the court ruled that Craigslist cannot be sued for the alleged unlawful conduct of other parties. Furthermore, if Section 230(c)(1) of the CDA applies to blogs, then it appears that individual bloggers can't be held liable for the comments posted by readers.
Grady flatly rejected Dart's claim that the the section was nothing more than a prostitution service or that it "induced" people to engage in the illegal trade. A woman offering erotic dancing services to male clients in the w4m, or women for men, section is an adult service that isn't prostitution, Grady wrote.
He went on to say that section 230(c)(1) of the CDA, which prevents websites from being held liable for the postings of their users, "would serve little if any purpose if companies like Craigslist were found liable under state law for 'causing' or 'inducing' users to post unlawful content in this fashion."
In any event, a communications law expert should weigh in on the subject for clarification on how the ruling pertains to bloggers.
Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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