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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>71411</law_id><section_number>8.01-49.1</section_number><catch_line>Liability for defamatory material on the Internet</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>8.01-40.5</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="8.01">Civil Remedies and Procedure</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="3">Actions</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="4">Defamation</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> No provider or user of an <span class="dictionary">interactive computer service</span> on the <span class="dictionary">Internet</span> shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided to it by another <span class="dictionary">information content provider</span>. No provider or user of an <span class="dictionary">interactive computer service</span> shall be liable for (i) any <span class="dictionary">action</span> voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to, or availability of, <span class="dictionary">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 <span class="dictionary">conviction</span>, gender, <span class="dictionary">disability</span>, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin, whether or not such <span class="dictionary">material</span> is constitutionally protected, or (ii) any <span class="dictionary">action</span> taken to enable, or make available to <span class="dictionary">information content providers</span> or others, the technical means to restrict access to information provided by another <span class="dictionary">information content provider</span>. <a id="paragraph-257456" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.01-49.1/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> As used in this section:
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Disability</span>&#x201D; means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a <span class="dictionary">person</span>&#x2019;s major life activities.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Information content provider</span>&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">person</span> or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the <span class="dictionary">Internet</span> or any other <span class="dictionary">interactive computer service</span>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Interactive computer service</span>&#x201D; 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 <span class="dictionary">Internet</span> and such systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Internet</span>&#x201D; means the international computer network of interoperable packet-switched data networks. <a id="paragraph-257457" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.01-49.1/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>2000, c. 930; 2020, cc. 746, 1171; 2024, cc. 266, 334.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
