---
title: "Map a complaint about an AI chatbot output"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/assess-a-client-s-complaint-about-ai-chatbot-outputs-defaming-them/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A33-B7-1-US"
practice_area: "Defamation & Media Law"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Map a complaint about an AI chatbot output

> For each output the client complains of, record the date, the product or URL, the words complained of, and whether the capture shows a human author. Make no statement about who published the words.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/assess-a-client-s-complaint-about-ai-chatbot-outputs-defaming-them/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 the client complains of, record the date, the product or URL, the words complained of, and whether the capture shows a human author. Make no statement about who published the words. |
| 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 that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the Internet or any other interactive computer service. Civil Code § 45 defines libel. You decide whether § 230(c)(1) applies to this defendant and whether the words meet § 45. The map records the output. It does not pick the defendant. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Assess a client's complaint about AI chatbot outputs defaming them](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/assess-a-client-s-complaint-about-ai-chatbot-outputs-defaming-them.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: For each output the client complains of, record the date, the product or URL, the words complained of, and whether the capture shows a human author. Make no statement about who published the words.
- 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 page uses (c)(1) and (f)(3) only.
- Defamation elements and limitation periods differ by state. Section 45 is California's definition of libel.

## 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)

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