[shkkmo]

> Platform/publisher isn't a thing, that's a made up talking point.

It mirrors an offline legal distinction that has a huge impact on liability. A printer is not liable for what they print because they don't exert editorial control while a publisher is because they do.

There are specific legal protections for online platforms that allow they to exert some moderation without qualifying as a publisher for liability purposes.

Thus the platform/publisher distinction is extremely relecant when discussing exactly how much moderation (and especially curration) can happen before a platform should assume the legal liabilities of a publisher.

[devwastaken]

Publishers aren't special, they have 1st amendment rights that protect them as well. Publishers are not automatically liable for their published works. You have to prove a causal link between the publisher and something in the book itself. And then you have to prove a harm that goes beyond the limits of 1st amendment protections. There's conflicting precedence on it, courts disagree on the limits of 1st amendment and how it applies to publishers. More commonly, it's the author that is targeted, because they wrote the work, not the publisher.

[anigbrowl]

True, but if I'm a publisher my liability would arise from publishing false stories like 'shkkmo distributes ransomware' or incitement like 'push shkkmo into traffic.' On the other hand, if I am the editor/publisher of Dweeb Aficionado I am under no obligation to give you editorial space or sell you advertising, except (in US law) if you can show that I am systematically excluding advertising from a class of people like you which enjoys some sort of legal protection.

[shkkmo]

I fail to see the relevance of this. As a publisher exerting editorial control, you also assume some liability for your content as that editorial control is a form of speech.

Printers who exert no editorial control are not engaging in speech and are thus not liable for the content they print (same with the ink, paper and printing press manufacturers.)

[anigbrowl]

The first sentence in my comment above defines the scope and limits of my liability.