§ 8.01-49.1.Liability for defamatory material on the Internet.

Subsection A states the core rule: no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet is to be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by another information content provider. It then protects two categories of conduct from liability — action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to, or the availability of, material the provider or user considers obscene, lewd, lascivious, excessively violent, harassing, or intended to incite hatred based on race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin, whether or not that material is constitutionally protected, and action taken to enable or make available to others the technical means to restrict access to material provided by another information content provider.

Subsection B defines the key terms. “Disability” means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. “Information content provider” means a person or entity responsible, in whole or in part, for creating or developing information provided through the Internet or another interactive computer service. “Interactive computer service” means any information service, system, or access software provider enabling computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including services or systems operated by libraries or educational institutions. “Internet” means the international computer network of interoperable packet-switched data networks.