---
title: "Map whether a platform is treated as the publisher of a tool's output"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/advise-on-ai-platform-liability-as-a-publisher/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A33-B8-1-US"
practice_area: "Defamation & Media Law"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Map whether a platform is treated as the publisher of a tool's output

> For each output, record the platform, the date, the words, and whether the capture shows a person or another service supplied the words. Make no statement about immunity.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/advise-on-ai-platform-liability-as-a-publisher/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Defamation & Media Law](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | For each output, record the platform, the date, the words, and whether the capture shows a person or another service supplied the words. Make no statement about immunity. |
| What the lawyer must review | 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1) provides that no 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. Section 230(f)(3) defines an information content provider as any person or entity responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the Internet or any other interactive computer service. You decide whether the defendant is a provider or user, whether the words were provided by another information content provider, and whether an exception in § 230 applies. Civil Code § 45 remains the California definition of libel if the claim is defamation. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Advise on AI platform liability as a publisher](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/advise-on-ai-platform-liability-as-a-publisher.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: For each output, record the platform, the date, the words, and whether the capture shows a person or another service supplied the words. Make no statement about immunity.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- Read the exceptions in § 230 before you advise that subsection (c)(1) applies. This map uses (c)(1) and (f)(3).
- Who created the words is a fact you find. The capture line is a clue, not that finding.

## Sources

- [47 U.S.C. § 230 (protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [California Civil Code § 45 (libel defined)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=45) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Digital intermediary liability map for an online publication (Defamation Act s 31A)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/digital-intermediary-liability-map.md) | Checklist | Yellow | Map of every party in an online publication path (author, poster, page owner, platform, search engine, host) against the s 31A digital intermediary defence: accessible complaints mechanism, written… |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*