In a previous life Pub Spy reported on Town Council meetings for a regional newspaper. The issue of libel was fairly clear then - if a Councillor called a local business man a crook (to take a random example!), then we didn't print that, even though we'd only be faithfully reproducing what was said at an open meeting.
Why?
Well, because now it wasn't just the Councillor saying the business man was a crook - the newspaper was saying it also. This could be argued either way in a court of law, but the newspaper editor took the view that it wasn't worth the hassle (or cost) of finding out if we'd be liable or not.
A recent thread on the Gazette forum brought this instance to mind again. Disclaimers aside, the merit or otherwise of which is open to debate anyway, just who is responsible for the sometimes slanderous comments made on a forum? The poster who wrote them? Or the forum which faithfully printed/reproduced them?
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