A recent National Association of Realtors® newsletter drew attention to the outcome of a lawsuit filed in an Illinois Federal court against the internet provider Craigslist. Plaintiff in the case was the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. One of the Committee's prime concerns is to eliminate discriminatory housing practices.
Craigslist is a giant internet collection of classified ads. It is huge. In the Chicago area alone, over 200,000 housing ads were posted to Craigslist in a six month period. Nationally, Craigslist carries over 2 million housing ads a year. Anyone can post a classified on it, and anyone can view the ads there, for free.
The lawsuit was filed over approximately 100 allegedly discriminatory ads. Some of them contained phrases such as "NO MINORITIES," "Apt. too small for families with small children," and "Only Muslims apply." The Committee argued that their appearance in Craigslist constituted violations of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). The FHA makes it illegal to "make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin."
In defense, Craigslist cited the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA). That act contains a provision which says, "[n]o 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." The CDA does not specifically mention fair housing issues, but it does contain examples referencing intellectual property and privacy laws.
As a provider of interactive computer services, Craigslist argued that they were covered, i.e. protected, by the CDA. The court agreed.
It should be noted that, as a matter of fact, Craigslist takes serious measures to educate its contributors about fair housing laws. Moreover, it encourages its users to "flag" offending ads as prohibited, and it provides sources where the offenses can be reported.
While Craigslist cannot be prosecuted for these particular sins of its users, any wrongly-inclined agent or principal should be aware of the precise scope of the ruling. Craigslist can't be prosecuted, but individual offenders can.
