State Attorneys General seek modification of Communications Decency Act to combat child sex trafficking

Nearly every Attorney General in the country has joined in signing a letter to Congress urging the modification of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). The change seeks to allow the state prosecution of website owners for hosting user-created advertisements that result in the victimization of children.

Section 230 of the CDA has been held to mean that website owners are not liable for the contents of what third parties post on their websites. For example, a newspaper or social media company like Facebook is not liable for comments posted on their websites by users (see, e.g., Zeran v. AOL, 129 F.3d 327, 330 (4th Cir. 1997)). The immunity extends to all torts including if the content contained defamatory or false information, threats, or sexually explicit content including that of minors (see Doe v. America Online, 783 So. 2d 1010 (Fl. 2001) (holding that marketing of sexually explicit content of minors in an AOL chat room did not subject AOL to claims of negligence).

The recommendation from the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is aimed at allowing states to prosecute website owners for hosting content that facilitates child sex trafficking. "It is ironic that the CDA, which was intended to protect children from indecent material on the internet, is now used as a shield by those who intentionally profit from prostitution and crimes against children." NAAG argues that federal enforcement alone has been "insufficient," and states should be allowed to step in "to investigate and prosecute those who facilitate these horrible crimes."