Internet Law
Appeals Court Rules MySpace Not Liable for Teens’ Rapes
Posted Jul 2, 2009, 10:38 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A California appeals court has ruled that MySpace isn’t liable for the rapes of teenage girls who were assaulted by men they had met on the social networking site.
The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled that MySpace is protected from liability by the federal Communications Decency Act, which protects websites that post materials written by others, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters.
The sexual assault victims were between the ages of 13 and 15 when they posted their profiles online, according to the Chronicle. Two assailants have already been sentenced to prison for the rapes, while others are awaiting trial.
The girls’ parents contended in the suit that MySpace should have used age-verification software or taken other steps to protect the teens from predators.
Courthouse News Service posted the ruling (PDF).
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