"the greatest threat to a person’s reputation and online privacy is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Enacted in 1996, the legislation provides that “[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Section 230 of the CDA also includes a “Good Samaritan” provision, which provides that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of…any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.” The impact of Section 230 cannot be overstated. The law immunizes websites for the content published on their sites. More problematic, the law provides no incentive for websites to remove defamatory and harassing content or a mechanism to ensure compliance with takedown orders."
