Hello Jason,
Clearly you are angry with the actions that have taken place with your posts.
Because I did not see the posts that have been pulled and I cannot make a judgement call on whether the moderation is morally right or wrong. It is legally right simply because the the sites owners have control as sheriffed by the moderators.
Let me take your latest points one at a time.
I do not know how many sites have been sued, but there have been sites that have been forced to change or close because of the threat of or actual legal action. This forum was threatened by an insurance company, such that if the company name appeared in contributors postings in a negative context, legal action would follow. Haymarket in their wisdom decided that the threat was sustainable, and consequently all posts with negative reference to the company involved were pulled and the members were asked not to name them in future.
The legal position of waivers is unclear. A waiver is rather like the notice in a car park, where the site operator may try to limit their liability, but if they FAIL to take reasonable care of the vehicles in their spaces, the waiver has no standing.
The forum is like a magazine or newspaper. These latter two publications are edited, and thus the content is clearly the responsibility of the editor and owner. Consequently they do control the content before it is published. This forum is also owned (by Haymarket),. This imposes similar responsibilities on the them to ensure the content of postings is appropriate. If the owner fails to take reasonable care to ensure postings are satisfactory, like the car park operator they are are arguably culpable. Under these circumstances a waiver is not likely to provide any protection to the site's owner.
Previously this forum was fully regulated and submissions were fully vetted before being posted. This was becoming unmanageable for the editor on a voluntary basis. Now Haymarket exercise control by only allowing registered members to post. Membership implies control, and that impresses responsibilities on both the owner and the individual members. If members do not follow the rules set by the owners they must expect sanctions.
We must not forget that Haymarket is also a commercial organisation. They have responsibilities to their shareholders, suppliers and customers. They allow us to use this forum like guests, but if postings on it begin to impinge on the viability of their core activity, guess which will take priority? And they are fully within their rights to do so.
Like you I believe that the manufactures could do a lot more to improve the quality, reliability and fitness for purpose of their products. I have made extensive postings on some of the issues, I have been very critical of some of their design and production methods, and I have issues with their habit of ignoring best practice established in parallel applications.
Perhaps I have been lucky, but none of my postings have been singled out for deletion.