The R Street Institute welcomes Monday’s decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirming a lower-court finding that Yelp! Inc. was not liable for negative business reviews posted to the company’s website. The following statement may be attributed to R Street Senior Fellow Steven Greenhut:
“The 9th Circuit’s decision upholds the protections granted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which have become key to free and open dialogue on the internet. If the appeals court had accepted the plaintiffs’ bizarre argument that third-party reviews hosted on a website constitute ‘advertising’ by that site, the result would be to stifle free expression and to erode the consumer trust that makes so much internet commerce possible.”
The R Street Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization whose mission is to promote free markets and limited, effective government. It has headquarters in Washington, D.C. and five regional offices across the country. Its website is www.rstreet.org.
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