Should providers filter content?

[Greenhost.cloud]

Should hosting providers have the right to filter or block content? Where do we draw the line between protecting users and censorship?

 

[SenseiSteve]

Drawing the line? Stick to what’s illegal and provable—court orders, not feelings. If it’s fraud, trafficking, or violence with evidence, cut it. Beyond that, let users filter their own feeds. Providers aren’t nannies; they’re infrastructure. The second they overreach into “protecting” everyone from ideas, they’re not just hosting—they’re curating reality. That’s censorship with extra steps. Users can handle the rest. Block buttons exist for a reason.

I do see a lot of Terms of Service spell out what is acceptable or not on a provider's platform.

 

[introserv_rd]

Filtering content can be too expensive. Automatic filtering can be erroneous and this will lead to conflict situations. Manually checking all content is almost impossible.

But when receiving a complaint about the content and checking its relevance, the provider can demand to delete/change the content up to blocking the service if the violation is systemic or not eliminated within the stated time frame. This aspect is quite easy to specify in the Terms of Service of the service and appeals on this aspect from the client will be worthless.