U.S. judge dismisses lawsuit over sale harmful products on eBay

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against eBay that was filed by the United States Department of Justice. The Department accused the online retailer of violating environmental laws by selling hundreds of thousands of harmful products containing pesticides and other pollutants.

In September 2023, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against eBay for selling over 343,000 devices that illegally helped vehicles to generate more power and evade emissions controls.

Furthermore, the company allegedly allowed the sale of more than 23,000 unregistered or misbranded pesticides.

Lastly, the Department of Justice said eBay was responsible for selling over 5,600 paint and coating removal products that contained dangerous chemicals, including methylene chloride, a chemical that is linked to brain and liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The judge ruled that eBay’s administrative and technical support does not make the company a publisher or speaker on the sellers’ behalf.

On top of that, eBay wasn’t a real seller, because the company didn’t physically possessed the challenged products, rejecting the argument of the plaintiff that eBay was a seller because it sold the products in exchange for money.

Eventually, Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act, which says that social media and other platforms can’t be held accountable for what users say and publish online, made sure eBay couldn’t be held liable in this lawsuit.

In a statement to Reuters, eBay said it remains to be a “safe and trusted marketplace” and that it would continue to invest to prevent prohibited products from being sold on its platform.

The Department of Justice declined to comment.