In the past few months, there have been a number of notable decisions affirming broad immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third party content. The beat goes on, as in late May, a Utah district court ruled that the Tor Browser, which allows for anonymous communications and transactions on the internet, was protected by CDA Section 230 for a website’s sale of illegal substances to a minor on the dark web via the Tor Browser.

More recently, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims brought by multiple locksmith companies (the “plaintiffs”) against the operators of the major search engines (the “defendants” or “providers”) for allegedly publishing the content of fraudulent locksmiths’ websites and translating street-address and area-code information on those websites into map pinpoints that were displayed in response to user search requests. (Marshall’s Locksmith Service v. Google LLC, No. 18-7018 (D.C. Cir. June 7, 2019)). According to the plaintiffs, by burying legitimate locksmiths listings (with actual, local physical locations) beneath so-called “scam” listings from locksmith call centers that act as lead generators for subcontractors, who may or may not be fully trained, plaintiffs’ legitimate businesses suffered market harm and were forced to pay for additional advertising. (Beyond this case, the issue of false local business listings appearing in Google Maps remains an ongoing concern, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal yesterday).