The front page of a newspaper typically contains the biggest news stories of the day. It usually features a large red masthead and eye-catching pictures. It also teases other interesting stories inside the edition. A website can also have a front-page that acts as a welcome mat for visitors and greets them with links to other pages of the site.
In 2014, three Jane Does who were sex trafficked as minors sued Backpage in federal court over accusations that their traffickers used the site to post ads selling them for sex. They claimed that Backpage violated the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) by facilitating sex trafficking and human trafficking. The district court ruled against them, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision. The court ruled that Backpage was performing traditional publisher functions in regards to third-party content and therefore shielded it under CDA Section 230.
In August 2013, a federal judge in New Jersey enjoined the state’s law that attempted to legislate Backpage out of existence. The judge ruled that the statute was preempted by CDA Section 230 and that it chills protected speech. He further criticized the state’s attorney general for trying to defend the statute, and he called it “hopelessly vague, overbroad, and unconstitutional”. The ruling marked the third time that a New Jersey state law had been struck down in federal courts over allegations that it violated CDA Section 230.
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