Ebay Off The Hook For Allegedly Selling Banned Car Parts, Restricted Pesticides

A judge on Monday dismissed a government lawsuit that accused eBay of damaging the environment by allowing the sale of hundreds of thousands of illegal car parts, restricted-use pesticides and products containing a banned chemical.

U.S. District Judge Orelia Merchant sided with the online marketplace in ruling that it was covered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which makes internet companies immune from liability over content posted by users of their websites.

"The provision of neutral, automatic email prompts and messages, and of payment processing software does not materially contribute to the illegal products' 'alleged unlawfulness,'" Merchant wrote.

In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department sued eBay in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, alleging that it violated the Clean Air Act and other statutes.

The government said the e-commerce giant was involved in the sale of more than 343,000 "aftermarket defeat devices" that allow motor vehicles to illegally spew pollution that's usually prevented by emission control systems.

The company was also accused of helping distribute at least 23,000 government-regulated pesticides — some of which were marketed to protect against COVID-19 — and more than 5,600 items containing methylene chloride, a toxic solvent that's banned for consumer use.

Neither the Justice Department nor eBay immediately returned requests for comment, according to Reuters, which first reported on the judge's ruling.