<P> In Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974), the Supreme Court suggested that a plaintiff could not win a defamation suit when the statements in question were expressions of opinion rather than fact . In the words of the court, "under the First Amendment, there is no such thing as a false idea". However, the Court subsequently rejected the notion of a First Amendment opinion privilege, in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 474 U.S. 953 (1985). In Gertz, the Supreme Court also established a mens rea or culpability requirement for defamation; states cannot impose strict liability because that would run afoul of the First Amendment . This holding differs significantly from most other common law jurisdictions, which still have strict liability for defamation . </P> <P> In Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988), the Supreme Court ruled that a parody advertisement claiming Jerry Falwell had engaged in an incestuous act with his mother in an outhouse, while false, could not allow Falwell to win damages for emotional distress because the statement was so obviously ridiculous that it was clearly not true; an allegation believed by nobody, it was ruled, brought no liability upon the author . The court thus overturned a lower court's upholding of an award where the jury had decided against the claim of libel but had awarded damages for emotional distress . </P> <P> After Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co., 1995 N.Y. Misc . Lexis 229 (N.Y. Sup . Ct . May 24, 1995), applied the standard publisher / distributor test to find an online bulletin board liable for post by a third party, Congress specifically enacted 47 U.S.C. § 230 (1996) to reverse the Prodigy findings and to provide for private blocking and screening of offensive material . § 230 (c) states "that no provider or user of an interactive computer shall be treated as a publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider", thereby providing forums immunity for statements provided by third parties . Thereafter, cases such as Zeran v. America Online, 129 F. 3d 327 (4th Cir. 1997), and Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F. Supp. 44 (D.D.C. 1998), have demonstrated that although courts are expressly uneasy with applying § 230, they are bound to find providers like AOL immune from defamatory postings . This immunity applies even if the providers are notified of defamatory material and neglect to remove it, because provider liability upon notice would likely cause a flood of complaints to providers, would be a large burden on providers, and would have a chilling effect on freedom of speech on the Internet . </P> <P> In Barrett v. Rosenthal, 146 P. 3d 510 (Cal. 2006), the California Supreme Court ruled that 47 U.S.C. § 230 (c) (1) does not permit web sites to be sued for libel that was written by other parties . </P>

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