On another message board (not as good as this one!), an unpleasant poster writes repugnant stuff like “Atheists are much worse than Nazis.”
He refuses to debate this in any way, but claims the protection of the US constitution (I presume free speech is in his ‘mind’).
I would be grateful for legal opinions on how the Constitution applies here (if at all).
Thanks!
P.S. The moderators don’t want to censor anyone - can the website get into legal trouble for publishing this sort of comment?
He can say whatever he wants, subject to the rules of the board and libel laws.
If he says something libelous, then the website can be named in the suit. How the court would rule is a gray area, since there aren’t a lot of rulings on BBS’s.
The board can enforce rules – that’s allowed since it’s not the government – and remove posts that violate those rules. So if they make a rule “no hate speech,” they can remove his posts or ban him from the board.
Best bet is to just ignore the jerk.
Also, speech that expresses opinions and evaluations is protected and immune to libel/slander laws. Saying someone is ‘worse than Hitler’ is not actionable. Saying that they abuse small children is …
(Note: IANAL, nor do I play one on TV.)