Communications Decency Act

Communications Decency Act

The Communications Decency Act (CDA) immunizes commercial interactive computer service providers from liability for defamatory information posted by third parties.FN54 The provisions of the CDA prohibiting transmission of obscene or indecent communications by means of a telecommunications device to persons under the age of 18, or sending patently offensive communications through the use of interactive computer service to persons under the age of 18, are content-based blanket restrictions on speech, and, as such, are not properly analyzed on a First Amendment challenge as a form of time, place, and manner regulation.FN55

The transmission of child pornography by computer through the internet satisfies the "interstate commerce" element of transporting child pornography through interstate commerce, whether the sender is across state lines or across the street from the recipient.FN56