What to Do If You’re Defamed Online

Hi, I’m Danny Karon, your Lovable Lawyer, here with your quick shot of legal wellness. So, let’s say that somebody says something really nasty about you online. It’s horrible. Let’s throw in that it’s untrue too. And, it comes up in a Google search. Well, if that happens, you can always sue the content creator for defamation. But the question is, can you also sue Google for publishing it? The answer to that question is no. That’s because Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act’s Goal is to immunize interactive computer services like Google, Yahoo, and Bing from liability for third parties’ actions. Now the CDA says that no provider or user of an interactive computer service should be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. This language is often referred to as the 26 words that created the internet. And, that stands to reason, because if search engines were on the hook for posting other people’s content, well heck, we’d have no internet. Sure, Section 230 contains a few exceptions, like where Google created the content or Google is contributorily liable for copyright or trademark infringement, but those rarely occur. So, what’s the bottom line? Bottom line is if somebody defames you online, you can’t sue Google and you know what, if you don’t believe me, Google it!

If you’d like to learn more about legal wellness, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and visit me on yourlovablelawyer.com. Until next time, I’m Danny Karon, your Lovable Lawyer.