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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
LOS ANGELES—The Communications Decency Act protects MySpace Inc. from liability in cases where a minor is sexually assaulted by an adult he or she met on MySpace’s Web site, a California appeals court ruled.
The June 30 decision by the 2nd appellate district court in Los Angeles in Julie Doe II, III, IV and V vs. MySpace Inc. involves the alleged sexual assaults of four girls—whose ages range from 13 to 15—by men they had met through their profiles on MySpace, a social networking Web site.
In two of the cases, the assailants are serving 10-year prison terms. Another is serving a four-and-a-half year prison sentence, while others charged with assault are awaiting trial, says the decision.
Plaintiffs representing the four girls sued MySpace, charging the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company with negligence, gross negligence and strict product liability. The complaints allege MySpace should have implemented “readily available and practicable age-verification software” or should have made the default setting on their accounts “private,” which does not allow other users to search or browse those profiles, according to court records.
In its decision, the appeals court rules that MySpace is not liable for content provided by a third-party user under the federal Communications Decency Act.
“That appellants characterize their complaint as one for failure to adopt reasonable safety measures does not avoid the immunity granted by section 230” of that law, the decision states.
The plaintiffs “want MySpace to ensure that sexual predators do not gain access to (i.e. communicate with) minors on the Web site. That type of activity—to restrict or make available certain material—is expressly covered by section 230” of the act, said the three-judge panel in Los Angeles.
The opinion notes that MySpace also has immunity under the act because it is not an information content provider.