The 26 words in the title refer to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” In other words, if a post on Facebook is defamatory or pornographic, for example, Facebook is not legally liable.

It is obvious that Section 230 gives great protection to the Internet companies that otherwise would be responsible for examining every posting and still would be in fear of lawsuits. The title seems a little overstated, though. “Facilitated” might be a more accurate verb.

The book is surprisingly, for a legal study, enjoyable to read. It is organized around important cases. The first set of cases deals with free speech and took place before the Internet existed. One concerns a barely literate bookseller who was arrested for selling a pornographic book. He claimed to not know of the content. The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the bookseller on First Amendment (free speech) grounds. In the next case, which preceded the institution of Section 230, a judge in Long Island, NY, found Prodigy, an early Internet provider, liable for a defamatory posting because it had edited the posting from a third party. The implication was that Internet providers were safer if they did not monitor postings. Members of Congress recognized the issue, that is, protecting Internet providers versus displaying objectionable content. An act was passed, including Section 230, with an amendment focused on eliminating pornography. The amendment was struck down by the Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. Implicit in the Supreme Court decision was that the Internet is exceptional and should not be protected from traditional laws.

In the next several cases described, Section 230 successfully defended network providers against suits from a person harassed by messages on America Online, a small business owner accused of being a Nazi descendant, an actress humiliated by a false report on Matchmakers, and Yelp and Wikipedia being sued because of unfavorable reviews. Perhaps the most heinous cases where Section 230 prevailed involved young women being trafficked on Backpage.

In the second decade of Section 230, however, and continuing to the present, the protection it offered eroded. Perhaps in response, providers appear to be doing more to moderate what is posted. An example given is Twitter and posts from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Readers and governments are asked to weigh the benefits of free speech against the serious harm to a few citizens. This book is highly recommended.

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