Should any Content that you have authored be reported to LiveJournal as being offensive or inappropriate, LiveJournal might call upon you to retract, modify, or protect (by means of private and friends only settings) the Content in question within a reasonable amount of time, as determined by the LiveJournal staff.

IANAL (I am not a lawyer), but it seems to me that LJ is clearly saying that  it reserves for itself the right not only to police illegal content, but “offensive” and “inappropriate” content. Do these terms have a clear legal definition?

LiveJournal and its designates shall have the right, but not the obligation, to remove any content that violates the TOS or is otherwise objectionable, or that infringes or is alleged to infringe intellectual property rights.

So, LJ is not saying that what it allows itself to remove is limited to what is specified as verboten in the TOS, but what is “otherwise objectionable.” Again, not a lawyer, but doesn’t this mean that the TOS says that LJ can remove whatever it finds offensive/objectionable/inappropriate, and that this is not limited to what’s in the TOS? So, therefore, LJ did not violate its TOS by suspending people who did not have technically illegal content.

The user agrees not to:  Upload, post or otherwise transmit any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive to another’s privacy (up to, but not excluding any address, email, phone number, or any other contact information without the written consent of the owner of such information), hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

So, “abusive,” “vulgar,” “obscene,” “hateful,” and “racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable” content are banned. Regardless of whether obscenity is against the law or not, it seems clear that LJ has taken a position on it. Also, “otherwise objectionable” seems to be quite broad.

I am again not saying that LJ is unreasonable, evil, or out of line to have such a TOS. I’m just pointing out that LJ reserves the right to boot people on grounds broader than illegality. Heck, I’m pretty sure it’s legal for me in the US to have a banner advertising my business, or participate in an affiliate program. Yet, this form of commercial speech is banned by LJ.