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A US government lawsuit accusing eBay of selling almost 350,000 polluting and environmentally harmful products \u2014 including pesticides and \u201cdefeat\u201d devices that let motor vehicles evade emission controls \u2014 has been dismissed by a federal judge. On Monday, District Judge Orelia Merchant ruled<\/a> that eBay isn\u2019t liable for items that users sell on the digital marketplace due to civil protections that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act<\/a> provides for online platforms. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Under Section 230, online platforms cannot be held responsible for hosted content unless \u201cit assisted in the development of what made the content unlawful.\u201d The lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice last year<\/a> alleged that eBay had violated the Clean Air Act (CAA) by knowingly selling, or offering unlawful products for sale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Merchant dismissed the DOJ\u2019s claim, ruling that eBay \u201cmust own or possess an item\u201d to be considered a seller. Merchant also ruled that administrative and technical support that eBay provides to sellers, such as messages, email notifications, and processing payments, doesn\u2019t materially contribute to the \u201calleged unlawfulness\u201d of illegal products.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n