Shut Discussionist down!...

[Cerridwen]

138. It may be self-correcting. Cyber/Internet Law has changed

and continues to evolve since the days when the owners were visited by the FBI(?) because of death threats made at DU. Since that time cyber-bullying/stalking, revenge porn, online threats of death and rape have started to result in criminal investigations and prosecutions.

Legislation Against cyberbullying
Main article: Cyberstalking legislation
United States

Legislation geared at penalizing cyberbullying has been introduced in a number of U.S. states including New York, Missouri, Rhode Island and Maryland. At least forty five states passed laws against digital harassment.<63> Dardenne Prairie of Springfield, Missouri, passed a city ordinance making online harassment a misdemeanor. The city of St. Charles, Missouri has passed a similar ordinance. Missouri is among other states where lawmakers are pursuing state legislation, with a task forces expected to have “cyberbullying” laws drafted and implemented.<64> In June, 2008, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) proposed a federal law that would criminalize acts of cyberbullying.<65>

Lawmakers are seeking to address cyberbullying with new legislation because there's currently no specific law on the books that deals with it. A fairly new federal cyberstalking law might address such acts, according to Parry Aftab, but no one has been prosecuted under it yet. The proposed federal law would make it illegal to use electronic means to "coerce, intimidate, harass or cause other substantial emotional distress."

In August 2008, the California state legislature passed one of the first laws in the country to deal directly with cyberbullying. The legislation, Assembly Bill 86 2008, gives school administrators the authority to discipline students for bullying others offline or online.<66> This law took effect, January 1, 2009.<67>

A recent ruling first seen in the UK determined that it is possible for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to be liable for the content of sites which it hosts, setting a precedent that any ISP should treat a notice of complaint seriously and investigate it immediately.[68]

18 U.S.C. § 875(c) criminalizes the making of threats via Internet. (emphasis added)

From wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbullying#Legal_definition

If ISPs are held liable as may be a possibility in the UK, it may result in ISPs shutting down websites creating the most liability headaches. Since ISPs are business entities, I'm not sure they'll much care for 1st Amendment arguments that may not apply on a global stage.

I'm pretty sure the number of posts warning about the type of content presented on various sites will make it difficult for site owners to claim ignorance of the problem(s).