{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/8.01-49.1.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/8.01-49.1.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/8.01-49.1.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/8.01-49.1.html"}],"law_id":71411,"edition_id":1,"section_id":71411,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-49.1","catch_line":"Liability for defamatory material on the Internet","history":"2000, c. 930; 2020, cc. 746, 1171; 2024, cc. 266, 334.","full_text":"A\n\nNo provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided to it by another information content provider. No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be liable for (i) any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to, or availability of, material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, excessively violent, harassing, or intended to incite hatred on the basis of race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected, or (ii) any action taken to enable, or make available to information content providers or others, the technical means to restrict access to information provided by another information content provider.B\n\nAs used in this section:\n\t\t\t“Disability” means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person’s major life activities.\n\t\t\t“Information content provider” means any person or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the Internet or any other interactive computer service.\n\t\t\t“Interactive computer service” means any information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions.\n\t\t\t“Internet” means the international computer network of interoperable packet-switched data networks.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":257456,"text":"No provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided to it by another information content provider. No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be liable for (i) any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to, or availability of, material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, excessively violent, harassing, or intended to incite hatred on the basis of race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected, or (ii) any action taken to enable, or make available to information content providers or others, the technical means to restrict access to information provided by another information content provider.","type":"section","prefixes":["A"],"prefix":"A","entire_prefix":"A","prefix_anchor":"A","level":1,"next_prefix":"B"},"1":{"id":257457,"text":"As used in this section:\n\t\t\t“Disability” means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person’s major life activities.\n\t\t\t“Information content provider” means any person or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the Internet or any other interactive computer service.\n\t\t\t“Interactive computer service” means any information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions.\n\t\t\t“Internet” means the international computer network of interoperable packet-switched data networks.","type":"section","prefixes":["B"],"prefix":"B","entire_prefix":"B","prefix_anchor":"B","level":1,"prior_prefix":"A"}},"ancestry":[{"id":15583,"edition_id":1,"name":"Defamation","identifier":"4","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12886,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:56:32","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:56:32","permalink":{"id":280825,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15583,"identifier":"4","token":"8.01\/3\/4","url":"\/8.01\/3\/4\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12886,"edition_id":1,"name":"Actions","identifier":"3","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12747,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:59","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:59","permalink":{"id":279635,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12886,"identifier":"3","token":"8.01\/3","url":"\/8.01\/3\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12747,"edition_id":1,"name":"Civil Remedies and Procedure","identifier":"8.01","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":277029,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12747,"identifier":"8.01","token":"8.01","url":"\/8.01\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":71678,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-45","catch_line":"Action for insulting words","url":"\/8.01-45\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-45","metadata":false},{"id":59452,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-46","catch_line":"Justification and mitigation of damages","url":"\/8.01-46\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-46","metadata":false},{"id":73041,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-46.1","catch_line":"Disclosure of employment-related information; presumptions; causes of action; definitions","url":"\/8.01-46.1\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-46.1","metadata":false},{"id":74317,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-46.2","catch_line":"Civil action for dissemination of intimate images to another; penalty","url":"\/8.01-46.2\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-46.2","metadata":false},{"id":65717,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-47","catch_line":"Immunity of persons investigating or reporting certain incidents at schools","url":"\/8.01-47\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-47","metadata":false},{"id":83313,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-48","catch_line":"Mitigation in actions against newspapers, etc","url":"\/8.01-48\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-48","metadata":false},{"id":85514,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-49","catch_line":"Defamatory statements in radio and television broadcasts","url":"\/8.01-49\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-49","metadata":false},{"id":71411,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-49.1","catch_line":"Liability for defamatory material on the Internet","url":"\/8.01-49.1\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-49.1","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":85514,"structure_id":15583,"section_number":"8.01-49","catch_line":"Defamatory statements in radio and television broadcasts","url":"\/8.01-49\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-49","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/8.01-49.1\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 2000. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 930<\/a> of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. It has been modified 2 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 2020, chapters 746<\/a> and 1171<\/a>; in 2024, chapters 266<\/a> and 334<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":62242,"section_number":"8.01-40.5","catch_line":"Publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the Internet","order_by":null,"url":"\/8.01-40.5\/"}],"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":280855,"object_type":"law","relational_id":71411,"identifier":"8.01-49.1","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-49.1","url":"\/8.01-49.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/8.01-49.1\/","token":"8.01\/3\/4\/8.01-49.1","dublin_core":{"Title":"Liability for defamatory material on the Internet","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 8.01-49.1","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A.<\/span> No provider or user of an interactive computer service<\/span> on the Internet<\/span> shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided to it by another information content provider<\/span>. No provider or user of an interactive computer service<\/span> shall be liable for (i) any action<\/span> voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to, or availability of, material<\/span> that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, excessively violent, harassing, or intended to incite hatred on the basis of race, religious conviction<\/span>, gender, disability<\/span>, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin, whether or not such material<\/span> is constitutionally protected, or (ii) any action<\/span> taken to enable, or make available to information content providers<\/span> or others, the technical means to restrict access to information provided by another information content provider<\/span>. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

B.<\/span> As used in this section:\n\t\t\t“Disability<\/span>” means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person<\/span>’s major life activities.\n\t\t\t“Information content provider<\/span>” means any person<\/span> or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the Internet<\/span> or any other interactive computer service<\/span>.\n\t\t\t“Interactive computer service<\/span>” means any information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the Internet<\/span> and such systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions.\n\t\t\t“Internet<\/span>” means the international computer network of interoperable packet-switched data networks. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nLIABILITY FOR DEFAMATORY MATERIAL ON THE INTERNET (\u00a7 8.01-49.1)\n\nA. No provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall\nbe treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided to it by\nanother information content provider. No provider or user of an interactive\ncomputer service shall be liable for (i) any action voluntarily taken by it in\ngood faith to restrict access to, or availability of, material that the provider\nor user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, excessively violent,\nharassing, or intended to incite hatred on the basis of race, religious\nconviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or\nethnic or national origin, whether or not such material is constitutionally\nprotected, or (ii) any action taken to enable, or make available to information\ncontent providers or others, the technical means to restrict access to\ninformation provided by another information content provider.\n\nB. As used in this section:\n\t\t\t“Disability” means a physical or mental impairment that\nsubstantially limits one or more of a person’s major life activities.\n\t\t\t“Information content provider” means any person or entity that is\nresponsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information\nprovided through the Internet or any other interactive computer service.\n\t\t\t“Interactive computer service” means any information service,\nsystem, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by\nmultiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system\nthat provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services\noffered by libraries or educational institutions.\n\t\t\t“Internet” means the international computer network of\ninteroperable packet-switched data networks.\n\nHISTORY: 2000, c. 930; 2020, cc. 746, 1171; 2024, cc. 266, 334.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}