Craigslist seems to be living a
charmed life as a company, but now there’s a bump in its road. A
Chicago fair-housing group has sued Craigslist for allegedly publishing
discriminatory housing advertisements. (Here’s a report from the Chicago Tribune.)
The existence of this lawsuit suggests that perhaps rules for an
Internet site should be the same as for a traditional publisher, in
which every ad must be vetted to conform with the law, according to the
Tribune
report. That could pose a burden on free-classifieds sites like
Craigslist, in which ads go up without staff review once an advertiser
posts them. Indeed, if the lawsuit is successful for the housing group,
it could in theory force Craigslist to charge for housing ads on its
sites, in order to pay for ads to be vetted before publication.
Jim Townsend, writing for Classified Intelligence Report (a paid-subscription industry newsletter), says that Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster
told him that Craigslist goes beyond what other websites have done, and
beyond what is required by law, to ensure that discriminatory housing
ads are not published.
Says Townsend: “Craigslist’s housing page contains a link that says
stating a discriminatory preference in a housing post is illegal. The
link takes consumers to a page that cites the Fair Housing Act and an
instruction to report prohibited postings to Craigslist.” The Chicago
lawyers want more. “The suit seeks assurances that Craigslist will come
up with the technology to exclude future unlawful listings, and that it
fund a fair-housing education program.”
Buckmaster told the Tribune
that he is “very concerned about discrimination in housing ads,” and
that fair-housing groups have praised Craigslist for educating its
users about fair-housing issues. He also said that it is “our
understanding that Internet websites such as a Craigslist do not have
the same legal liability as print media in terms of the Fair Housing
Act.” That’s because Craigslist is not a publisher in the same sense of
a newspaper, Buckmaster says. “Rather, it is an Internet site where
users can publish their own postings.”
So, is Craigslist a publisher, or more of a common carrier? The outcome of this case will be interesting — and important.
