GM Uses Legal Threats to Limit Auto Liability Debate: If Only Section 230 Extended to Traditional Media
Why should speech traveling down Comcast’s wire to my computer enjoy better protection than that arriving via the same wire to my television? Consider this fact pattern:
- A group of consumers, looking to stop GM from using bankruptcy to escape current and future product liability claims, seeks to make its cast to the administration via advertising. “If New GM cannot be sued for defects in cars sold by Old GM, then there will be far fewer claims and lawsuit data to report. Without that data, NHTSA’s ability to monitor and recall vehicles will be severely hampered, which puts public safety at risk. In addition, GM’s financial incentive to fix defective cars will be lessened if it is no longer responsible for injuries caused by those cars.”
- They make a video, purchase advertising, and gain media reporting. (See video.)
- They gain significant media attention. (WSJ coverage.)
- GM threatens Comcast and gets the paid ad suspended. (Washington Post coverage.)
- Public Citizen describes this unfair pressure, and correctly asks, “What if Comcast’s cable enjoyed the same Section 230 protections as its hosting business?” (See the post.)
Contrast what would have happened if the ad had been running on a web site hosted by Comcast. Under section 230, Comcast would be absolutely immune from liability for any inaccuracies in the ad – even if GM had reason to argue that the consumers had deliberately falsified facts about GM instead of simply disagreeing about matters of emphasis or oversimplification. GM’s remedy would have been either to sue its critics – if it really thought it had a tenable defamation claim – or to post comments online explaining its position, or run its own web-based advertising to state its contrary views. Indeed, the ad can still be viewed on any number of web sites (such as here). In the circumstances, GM was able to suppress an ad during the time when the dispute was most controversial, and hence when the ad had the greatest potential to grab public attention and be most successful in advancing its sponsors’ political objectives.
Is it possible that mainstream media needs the kind of speech protections we’ve found so useful in nurturing online discourse? Again: Why should speech traveling down Comcast’s wire to my computer enjoy better protection than that arriving to my television?
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2 Responses to "GM Uses Legal Threats to Limit Auto Liability Debate: If Only Section 230 Extended to Traditional Media"
August 16, 2009
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May 21, 2010
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