Classified Ad Web Site Not Liable for Content of Classified Ads under the CDA

Online classified advertiser Craigslist.com provides an electronic meeting place for those that want to buy, sell, or rent many types of products and services, including housing. Some ads posted on Craigslist.com offering housing for rental or sale included statements like "no minorities" and "no children." The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc., on behalf of its members, sued Craigslist.com for violating the Fair Housing Act by publishing discriminatory housing ads submitted by its users. Craigslist.com claimed that it was immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act, which provides that an online information service will not be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by someone else. The Seventh Circuit, agreed with Craigslist.com, finding that Craigslist.com did not cause the discriminatory ads because nothing in the service Craigslist.com offers induces anyone to post any particular listing or express a preference for discrimination, and noted that the Lawyer's Committee was free to pursue the individual posters of the ads. This decision is in contrast to one reached in a similar case brought against Roommates.com, where the Ninth Circuit found that entity was not shielded by the CDA (see our July 2007 report about the Roommates.com case).

TIP: If a company allows third parties to post content on its Web site, and has little control over that content, it may be immune from liability for the content. However, the more control the company has over the third party content, the more difficult it will be to successfully claim immunity if the content violates local or national laws.