I believe you have to have a comprehensive policy in place (just like your brick-and-mortar rules of conduct) that are clearly outlined on the site.

Any edits or deletions would need to adhere to those same policies and you should be covered. Just as you’d removed loud patrons who were upsetting the other patrons, you need to be prepared to moderate troublesome Web patrons.

Consistency is the key though… there should be little room for judgement as to what constitutes a violation of policy. If a complaining patron can point out an instance where you allowed a similar post to stand, you are on thin ice.

Just my $.02

In other words, check local law and probably check multiple reputable sources of advice.

I’ve certainly heard/seen the following statement many times in the past: “if you moderate, edit, or prune comments on your online forum — or blog — in any way at all then you stop being able to defend yourself as a common carrier and become a publisher who is, indeed, liable for the content that they publish”.

From memory, the cases in the UK have been mostly when a site failed or refused to remove an offensive or libellous comment in a timely manner after they’d been alerted to it.

1. The web as a whole is one big public forum, yet legislation mandates that if a library receives public money it is required to filter and limit access to web content–for the good of the children. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander…as long as the content is lawful, don’t remove any comments. In accordance with the law, filter access to your blog comments data, which is also web content.

2. If your institution feels it has a responsibility to edit the content of blog comments, then host your site with an ISP that strict content guidelines/rules (shop around for what you think is reasonable) where service is contingent on following those guidelines. Censorship is common practice in the private sector where your site will be hosted.