I own the website www.VerbalBattle.com it is set up to be a debate and discussion community. However I do not support censorship and have no intentions of censoring anything in the forums, unless it would leave me open to having legal action taken against me. At the moment I fully support people telling each other off, this does not come up too much, but if it does I would prefer to allow it to go on naturally without my interference. With that said, are there any possibilities that I may get drawn into court over things said on my forums, or are the members solely responsible for their own posts? Thanks a lot to anyone who can answer, definate rep points will be awarded.
Libel laws vary by state and you should get specific legal advice from an attorney - but yes, sites have been included in lawsuits for comments posted on their websites. Generally speaking you have protection on unmoderated comments, but that doesn't mean you can't be taken to court and forced to pay thousands in legal fees - fees you don't get to recover even if you win. Usually you would be served with a Court order requiring you to turn over member information (including IP's) - which is something you should probably cover in a TOS.