Blogger Immune From Suit for Anonymous Comments
A blogger is immune from defamation claims stemming from anonymous posts that appeared in the moderated-comments section of his website, a common pleas court judge has ruled.
April 08, 2015 at 07:50 PM
5 minute read
A blogger is immune from defamation claims stemming from anonymous posts that appeared in the moderated-comments section of his website, a common pleas court judge has ruled.
Northampton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony S. Beltrami ruled March 31 in Mezzacappa v. O'Hare that, under the Communications Decency Act, blogger Bernie O'Hare could not be held liable for statements anonymous posters made on his blog, even though the website and comments section was moderated.
The plaintiff, Tricia Mezzacappa, who had been a candidate for Northampton County Council, argued O'Hare should be liable for the posts because he controlled the comments section by deleting and disapproving of some of the comments. However, Beltrami noted a New Jersey Superior Court decision from 2005 that had rejected that same argument.
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