Yes. You potentially can be held legally liable for content provided by your contributors.Hello,
I'm considering hosting an uncensored chat room on my website.
What legal issues does this have?
Would I be responsible for any of the content my users share or say?
e.g. threats, drug negotiation...
NB: US state is Illinois
thanks in advance
KCNN has a lot of good information but I think the Limiting Legal Risks module covers better than any other site the areas of law that are of greatest concern to online writers and publishers.Thanks a lot, I'll read through http://kcnn.org/
Research Ross Ulbricht.Hello,
I'm considering hosting an uncensored chat room on my website.
What legal issues does this have?
Would I be responsible for any of the content my users share or say?
e.g. threats, drug negotiation...
NB: US state is Illinois
thanks in advance
There are several “heads up” examples. Those who start websites without proper preparation can find themselves with quite an expensive legal mess to clean up.Research Ross Ulbricht.
He ran the unregulated silk road website where guns, counterfeit documents and illegal drugs were openly traded.
In 2015, despite his claims that he was not responsible for what the site was used for, he was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment with no chance of parole.
Just a heads up
Again, private messaging would not be much of a legal issue for you. You would not be contributing to the content.The website I would like to host only supports one to one private messaging, and it is not IRC. Chats are discarded once the users leave. Also note that only text can be sent, so no images or videos.