Section 230: A Juridical History

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is the most important law in the history of the internet. It is also one of the most flawed. Under Section 230, online entities are absolutely immune from lawsuits related to content authored by third parties. The law has been essential to the internet's development over the last twenty years, but it has not kept pace with the times and is now a source of deep consternation to courts and legislatures. Lawmakers and legal scholars from across the political spectrum praise the law for what it has done, while criticizing its protection of bad-actor websites and obstruction of internet law reform. Absent from the fray, however, has been the Supreme Court, which has never issued a decision interpreting Section 230. That is poised to change, as the Court now appears determined to peel back decades of lower court case law and interpret the statute afresh to account for the tremendous technological advances of the last two decades. Rather than offer a proposal for reform, of which there are plenty, this Article acts as a guidebook to reformers by examining how we got to where we are today. It identifies those interpretive steps and missteps by which courts constructed an immunity doctrine insufficiently resilient against technological change, with the aim of aiding lawmakers and scholars in crafting an immunity doctrine better situated to accommodate future innovation.