When a Visalia-based advertising company printed rental ads that barred couples and people with children, fair-housing advocates sued. They said the company violated a federal ban on discriminatory housing ads.
But when the same company published similar ads on the Internet, fair housing laws didn’t apply.
The reason illustrates how the Internet is changing the business landscape – and how two major federal laws conflict.
One law, more than 40 years old, holds newspapers and other publications liable for printing discriminatory housing ads. The other, a decade old, largely spares Internet publishers any responsibility for content provided by others.
|
Last week, the National Fair Housing Alliance released a report that documents what it says are thousands of discriminatory housing ads across the nation published on the Internet.
The report calls on Congress to amend the new law – the Communications Decency Act of 1996 – to hold Internet publishers liable for discriminatory ads on their Web sites.
The Communications Decency Act originally was written to regulate obscenity on the Web. But it also protects – with a few exceptions – Internet providers from liability when they publish information that is provided by others who use their service.
Shanna Smith, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance, said the Internet is “fertile ground” for discriminatory ads.
Among the ads cited by the Alliance were five from Fresno – four published on Craigslist and a fifth on a Web site run by Visalia-based American Classifieds LLC. Another six, all on the American Classifieds site, were for Visalia housing rentals.
The advertisements, according to the Alliance, sought “Singles/Couple with 1 child only,” “Christian female preferred” and “no couples, kids,” among others.
American Classifieds, which also publishes free printed advertising publications around the nation, declined to comment. Craigslist did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.
Both companies post notices on their Web sites stating that housing ads cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, disability, sex or family status. In the past, Craigslist also has said it was “striving diligently to prevent and eliminate” discriminatory ads.
Besides being singled out for its Internet ads, American Classifieds was sued last month in federal court in Fresno by the National Fair Housing Alliance, which alleged that the company illegally published housing ads in its print publications that discriminated against married couples, people with children and non-Christians.
The federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to print housing ads that discriminate because of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, familial status and disability.
Landlords, real estate agents or others who place the ads can be held liable whether they are published in print or on the Internet. While print publishers also can face legal action, Web publishers are immune.
In the past year, the National Fair Housing Alliance and several of its local fair housing organization members have identified more than 7,500 discriminatory ads placed by housing providers on various Web sites, the NFHA report says.
But only 1,000 complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development because both HUD and private fair housing agencies “lack the staff and time to work through the cumbersome process required to identify and bring these landlords to justice,” according to the report.
Housing Alliance officials say it is easier to police such ads if the publisher is held accountable. Internet providers, the officials add, can easily install filtering systems to prevent individuals from posting illegal discriminatory ads.
Smith believes the solution is to amend the Communications Decency Act to reflect the same standards newspapers and other print publications have adhered to under the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
John Sims, a constitutional law professor at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, said the Alliance makes a persuasive argument. He said Craigslist and other Web sites now play significant roles in publishing classified ads. These ads were once almost exclusively published in newspapers.
“The proposal for change seems appropriate because it would be continuing the status quo, recognizing another technology. They’re doing what classified ads in newspapers used to do.”
But David Johnson, a Los Angeles business attorney who writes a digital media blog, thinks the National Fair Housing Alliance has “an extra long shot at succeeding.” He said the Communications Decency Act “immunizes all kinds of actions” on the Internet, and he has “not seen any real effort by Congress to change that.”
|
National Fair Housing Alliance officials also acknowledge that two court decisions have found that the Communications Decency Act exempts Internet publishers from responsibility for the content on their sites.
One of those – which Johnson cited – involved Roommates.com. Last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held the company liable for Web content it controlled – specifically drop-down menus to create profiles for potential roommates that violated the Fair Housing Act.
The appeals court, however, found the company was not liable for a comment section where people seeking roommates could say whatever they wanted.
Ultimately, Johnson said the public, courts and Congress have established that the Internet needs protections so its massive exchange of information is not impeded.
“I don’t think Congress is likely to change that,” he said.
By John Ellis
August 17, 2009
source: fresnobee.com