The New York Times issued a correction on an article in which they misidentified law protecting freedom of speech.

The Aug. 6 article, "Legal Shield for Websites Rattles Under Onslaught of Hate Speech," appeared in the technology section and detailed the legal hurdles for websites as they attempt to expunge hate speech from their content. The original article asserted that hate speech was protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, not the First Amendment which protects the rights of Americans to speak freely.

The New York Times issued the correction later that day but the headline and scope of the article, written by Technology Correspondent Daisuke Wakabayashi, remained unchanged.

"Correction: Aug. 6, 2019 An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the law that protects hate speech on the internet. The First Amendment, not Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, protects it," a brief statement noted at the end of the article.

Law & Crime, a blog that writes on legal issues, commented on the gaffe saying that the error was a "legal reporting blunder which, frankly, is neither terribly complicated nor difficult."

Twitter users expressed confusion over the short correction, which seemed to change drastically the content of the work. Eriq Gardner, a senior editor for the Hollywood Reporter, simply posted a "confused" emoji with a screen capture of the correction.

"Love how NYT dropped this short 'correction' at the end of the article that nullifies its whole point," another user said.