Judge rules that eBay is not responsible for selling harmful products

A federal judge has thrown out a US Justice Department lawsuit accusing eBay of violating environmental laws by allowing the sale of hundreds of thousands of harmful products on its platform, including pesticides and devices to avoid vehicle pollution controls.

U.S. District Judge Orelia Merchant in Brooklyn ruled Monday that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which protects online platforms from liability for user content, shielded eBay from liability in the civil suit.

The judge said eBay’s administrative and technical support for sellers “does not materially contribute to the alleged illegality of the products” and does not make the San Jose, Calif., company a “publisher or speaker” on behalf of sellers.

The merchant also said that eBay is not a “seller” of some of the disputed products because it does not physically own or hold title to them. She rejected the government’s argument that eBay was a seller because it exchanged products for money.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

EBay said maintaining a “safe and reliable marketplace” was fundamental to its business and said it would continue to invest significant resources to prevent banned items from being sold on its platform.

In its September 2023 complaint, the Justice Department accused eBay of illegally allowing the sale of more than 343,000 aftermarket “defeat” devices, which help vehicles generate more power and get better fuel economy by circumventing emissions controls.

The company was also accused of allowing the sale of 23,000 unregistered, misbranded or restricted-use pesticides.

EBay also allegedly distributed more than 5,600 paint and coating removers that contained methylene chloride, a chemical linked to brain and liver cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The government said eBay’s conduct violated the Clean Air Act; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; and the Toxic Substances Control Act.

The case is US v. eBay Inc, US District Court, Eastern District of New York, no. 23-07173.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)

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