This is best in the Legal Section - Moving the thread there...

When it starts breaking any applicable laws, maybe. Then again, there's no stopping someone from.

Trying to hold somebody liable for either their or another party's actions.

As that article said, laws vary among jurisdictions...

Always be careful what you put in writing, including in a blog or Forum on the Internet. The same libel laws apply to a Forum and the poster and the Forum moderator and owner could be sued if the post cast false statements that damaged someone's business or professional reputation...

If you have good lawyer it can go both ways...

This is an interesting discussion, but I think a better title for the thread would attract more discussion - perhaps something like "Blog & forum posting legal liability for libel / defamation".

We manage many online community / forum sites and have done so since back in the dial-up modem BBS days.

In general, a venue is at arms length from the comments & statements by members - unless of course, the venue (forum, blog host, etc) is clearly negligent and/or conducive to the defamation of a specific entity. Of course, I'm not a lawyer, but this is what I have learned from legal consultation in previous mild cases of threats of libel and/or defamation in squabbles on forums that we manage.

Make me glad to own defamation and defamatory .org!..

This is indeed an interesting topic, so I've edited the thread title to make it more relevant to the actual content.

From my personal experience, especially in a commercial context, anonymous users posting fake and baseless reviews is a growing problem. Some use the internet to hide behind a veil of anonymity while posting misinformation, but it surely can be litigated in many courts. I guess it depends how severe the loss of business (as one must show a tangible loss) is as a result of the libelous comments...