In an email sent to business owners and garage door repair companies during April 2023, Google claimed that the consequences of amending Section 230 could impact their business. The company’s customer solutions team wrote:
“You may or may not recall life before the internet (anyone remember phonebooks?), but today it’s hard to imagine operating your business, connecting with customers, or … frankly, doing just about anything without it. However, there’s a debate brewing in Washington that could alter the way that Americans — and businesses like yours — use the internet every day.”
Adding: “This month, we want to tell you more about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, often referred to as “the twenty-six words that created the internet.” In short, Section 230 protects hosting, displaying, or sharing content from other people.”
“Without Section 230, your business could face an increased burden to review and moderate potentially problematic content, or risk being sued. To make matters worse, this could affect your ability to list your products or other information about your business on other websites and marketplaces. Connecting with customers through social media or your website would get much harder. Undercutting Section 230 would lead to businesses and websites being unable to operate, and to more lawsuits that would hurt small businesses.”
Understanding Section 230
Section 230 refers to a part of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 in the United States, which provides immunity to online platforms from liability for content posted by their users. The purpose of Section 230 is to encourage free speech online and to promote the growth and development of the internet industry by protecting platforms from being held legally responsible for user-generated content. This means that websites and other online platforms cannot be held liable for the comments, posts, or messages that their users publish, with some exceptions such as intellectual property and federal criminal law.
How Google and other platforms exploit Section 230
Online platforms such as Google and Bing exploit Section 230 in the sense that they utilize the legal protections it provides to shield themselves from liability for user-generated content. This allows them to operate without fear of being held legally responsible for the actions of their users, such as defamatory statements, copyright infringement, or other harmful behavior.
They abuse Section 230 by failing to take adequate steps to moderate content that is posted on their sites. This include allowing harmful or illegal content to remain on their platform or failing to take action against users who engage in abusive behavior, including those who involve in creating fake garage door repair pages on Google Maps. The consequences are far-reaching and disastrous for both business owners, who try to make a living, and millions of Americans who are being taken advantage and overpaying for services and questionable repair work performed by unqualified and illegal workers.
Google’s fake garage door maps pages refer to a practice that involves creating fake garage door repair companies or other businesses on Google Maps in order to manipulate search results and mislead users. Specifically, individuals or companies might create fake listings for garage door repair businesses in multiple locations, even if no such businesses exist at those addresses.
Why you should support amending Section 230
Fake pages on Google and Bing Maps are harmful to your garage door repair company and legitimate businesses in general in several ways. First, they create confusion for consumers who are searching for a particular product or service. If a fake garage door repair company or business listing appears higher in search results than a legitimate one, consumers may be misled into contacting the fake business or purchasing a product or service that is not what they were looking for. This can lead to frustration, wasted time and money, and damage to the reputation of the legitimate business.
These fake pages can have a negative impact on the overall online ecosystem by creating an unfair advantage for businesses that engage in these practices. Legitimate garage door companies and businesses that play by the rules may find it difficult to compete with scammers that use fake pages to improve their search rankings or mislead consumers to think that they are located near them.
Amending Section 230 according to the FTC rules will force online platform to allocate resources and finally eliminate the practice altogether, benefiting legitimate business owners and millions of consumers nationwide.
