I’ve been considering self-hosting for over a year now, but I’m still concerned if the feds will come knocking at my door for something someone else does.

For example, if someone on my server follows an individual or community and they posts something illegal (i.e. unauthorized sexually exploitive images) that content could be stored on my server. Wouldn’t’ I be legally liable for such?

I mean #fucklaws and everything, but I don’t want to end up in a cage and certainly not for something someone else did.

  • PriorProject@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    You haven’t discussed either your jurisdiction or what you’re worried about hosting. But in general, if you’re hosting a service for others… yes… they can create legal liability for you. And with lemmy specifically it’s not just what your users create, but what they subscribe to since subscribed content gets replicated to your instance and then served to the unauthenticated public internet.

    People/companies obviously do host things safely, but you need to learn how things work in your local jurisdiction. Like on the US, you need to register as a copyright agent to get DMCA protection, failure to do so could expose you to personal liability for the copyright infringement others sub/create. For CSAM (aka child porn), you may be required not just to remove but to report it as well.

    There are definitely people hosting Lemmy instances today who have no understanding of the legal implications of doing so are are not taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves. The vlemmy instance just disappeared without warning or communication, and while no one knows why, it’s not out of the question that they got spooked by a child-porn situation or got their server raided by police (this is speculation, but it’s possible). Other instances will disappear at some point when admin responsibilities get real.

    Your most important responsibility as an admin is understanding the legal/compliance environment you operate in and doing whatever is required of you to host safely. It’s not a trivial task, but people do it successfully.

    • CCL@links.hackliberty.orgOPEnglish
      22·
      1 year ago

      #AmIBeingDetained?

      Then again most nations aren’t federated, as such don’t have feds, so you should be able to figure that out but ;-) I’m fairly certain the legal ramifications are the same whether It’s GNU Social or Kbin. Sure platforms like Mastodon & Friendica give you more options for “defederating” “bad actors” than Pleroma or a NOSTR relay, but even that only does so much.

      • PriorProject@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        Then again most nations aren’t federated, as such don’t have feds, so you should be able to figure that out…

        If you want useful help, be explicit. Nobody is here to play guessing games because you can’t be arsed to state your jurisdiction and the world is full of federal police forces outside the US, including AFP and BPOL.

        I’m fairly certain the legal ramifications are the same whether It’s GNU Social or Kbin. Sure platforms like Mastodon & Friendica give you more options for “defederating” “bad actors” than Pleroma or a NOSTR relay, but even that only does so much.

        Hosting a CIFS server on a private network is on-topic for this community and has a wildly different liability profile that federated apps, which your post said nothing about.