First Amendment violation?

[bonaire]

New Jersey

I run a message board and edited someone's post to eliminate a reference to an unsavory person. Am I in violation of the First Amendment? Even if it's a private board? Thanks for any guidance.

 

[Some Random Guy]

First amendment protects your right to free speech from being limited by the government. Assuming that you and the original poster are not "the government", then its not a violation.

However, if you moderate the postings on the message board you may find you have more liability that the provider of an unmoderated board when it comes to libel/slander/copyright lawsuits. see http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/faq.cgi for more info on that.

As common courtesy, you should make it clear that the post was edited by the moderator to viewers of the site and you should have a Terms of Service that the posters agree to before being allowed to post.

 

[bonaire]

Thanks for your reply. It is helpful.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: I run a message board and edited someone's post to eliminate a reference to an unsavory person. Am I in violation of the First Amendment? Even if it's a private board?

A: No and even if.

 

[bonaire]

Thank you also, my friend. Good news for me. Someone threatened to sic the ACLU on me. One lawyer offered this opinion:

"This is a situation in which you must be careful in and seek representation. The ACLU is particularly belligerent when it comes to defending Constitutional issues and there has been challenges in these areas: condo/townhouse communities, message boards both private and public like Yahoo, Amusement parks and ski resorts, etc. In every instance the courts have sided by the rights of the individual when there was not a safety issue and was isolated to, say, placing the American Flag (in condo communities) despite disclaimers or pre-conditions. . . . The legitimacy of your actions and the existence of this board are certainly in jeopardy but you can forestall that and drag it out by a defense on certain challenging points which though ultimately will fail, will cause your opponents time and considerable monetary expense."

Is he right in this?