The company is in Florida.

I help run a big Q&A forum where there is a very long thread of people complaining about a particular company

The company has got attorneys threatening many of the posters with lawsuits if they do not remove their posts.

1. Do they have a leg to stand on? From the research we've done, it seems not but we'd like other opinions.
2. Can anyone point me to some good legal info on this issue?

It seems clear too that the site cannot be held liable, but if anyone can add info about site liability too, that would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Rick.

Sorry, internet law can be confusing. As for the posters on the site, they can either take the posts down or just wait and see if this company actually does take legal action against them. Then they will need to deal with an attorney. As for the site, you may want to speak with an attorney just to make sure about your potential liability. You can locate an attorney through the attorney locator on Lawinfo's home page at http://www.lawinfo.com/. Some do offer free consultations.

Thank you moderator. The more we dig into this, the more we are feeling confident that the site cannot be held liable for a posters libel or slander (unless the site's intentions are to harm, as in the case of sites like MicroSucks.com etc.)

So we'd like to better educate our posters as to what can be considered libel, slander and defamation.

We understand that truth is the best defense, but we also know people are sued every day for telling the truth in the wrong way.

Might you know of some good resources that help describe the difference between giving opinion or sharing experience vs. slander, libel or defamation?

I would just do some searches. I don't know of any resources about that subject off the top of my head.