[OT] Liability of Moderator

[Joseph Rushton Wakeling]

On 08/10/13 15:56, Chris wrote:
> I see. A private person wouldn't possibly be able to moderate the forum all the
> time. However, mailing lists (a forum via email) might be a different beast
> altogether, because everyone is writing personal email messages that are not
> public in the same way this forum is. So if someone writes "I think that Mr. XYZ
> is a **** and a ****! **** you!", nobody could possibly sue the one who founded
> the email forum for these comments?

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, get your own legal advice, etc. etc.  (Should 
have written that in my previous email too.  See what a minefield this 
international legal thing is?:-)

Generally speaking it seems like the typical experience in the UK is that if you 
have the means for people to report abusive or libellous material posted on your 
forum, and you are responsive to such reports, then it is very unlikely that any 
legal suit will be coming your way.

But that is "unlikely", not "impossible".  Someone who had a bone to pick with 
you could probably still launch suit.  In some circumstances I wouldn't bet 
against that happening if somebody's goal was to shut down a website.