In the US, maybe. In Europe, not necessarily. The UK's OFCOM regulations are particularly concerning.

Europe is more bureaucratic. You have to register with the government to say you host user content and respond to abuse reports, and then respond to abuse reports, and you're shielded.

No, the reality is far worse - and prohibitively expensive in time and money to any individual as opposed to large corporation.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/401475/

seems like their complaints are in two areas: bureaucracy to register, and needing to respond to abuse reports. Which is what I said.

They complain about hiring a moderation team to respond to abuse reports? How are they doing it now? Do they not respond?

Compliance certification costs money - lots of it. The laws also require proactive scanning of uploaded material, not just responding to complaints, and require a person to be declared liable for mistakes.

Gone are the says of paying a couple hundred a year for a host and a vBulletin license. The new costs are many thousands plus permanent liability, and no thanks - that's way more than I'm going to do for a group of enthusiasts online.