A number of misinformed individuals have alleged that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act allows revenge pornographers to operate revenge pornography websites without having to fear civil or criminal liability.
As I have argued on this website and in interviews with the media, the CDA does not protect these websites, because they are co-developers of the content and/or directly solicit it. Click here to find out why I feel this way.
In a recent case that involves a gossip website, a judge held that the CDA does not protect a website when the website administrator solicits the content. Said the judge: "This Court holds by reason of the very name of the site, the manner in which it is managed, and the personal comments of defendant Richie, the defendants have specifically encouraged development of what is offensive about the content of the site." In this case, the plaintiff was awarded over a quarter of a million dollars in damages.
The only thing that revenge pornographers have going for them is that they cowardly use anonymity to run their websites. With subpoena powers, however, these defendants can be hunted down and brought to justice.