NB: I am aware that this question is subjective, as it can't be defined precisely, but the answers should still be "objective": Country name, and what makes it legally safer.
EDIT: A) I am located in Germany. B) I am NOT looking for a place to offer pirated Software/Media; no binary on my site, except "profile icon".
Hello! I want to start publishing "social" websites / apps, and I found that the biggest initial problem is this: Any and all services I have to depend on, including Domain Registrar, DNS provider, Server/Cloud Provider, CDN Provider, … even my Insurance Agent, basically say that they can "throw me out" if my website contains "unacceptable" content. It's always phrased in such a way that basically anything can fall under "unacceptable" content. This is very frustrating because you just can't fully control what users post on your "social website", and you so you basically have to expect when you go to bed that your site is going to be gone when you wake up. I've heard a lot of horror stories about this.
Since the "Terms Of Service" of all those providers are foremost to protect themselves from legal actions, and those legal actions depend on the country where they are located, it seems like the first step is to find which country is the "safest" to locate a site. "Safest" being defined as, where I am least likely to get in legal trouble with the local authorities, if some user posts something unacceptable in some way.
The main restriction is that it should also be a "well-connected" country, because there is no point in being "safe", if my users can't get to my sites, or the latency is unacceptable. I am targeting the English speaking people in any country as my future users.
Best Answer
Wherever you go the host is going to be beholden to the legal terms of one country or another and all of them will have limits as to what is or is not acceptable. There is no "safe harbour" imho. I think the issues with wikileaks shows that just about any conventional hosting solution can be 'undone' if govt's are determined enough.
In my experience, reputable hosts that write those terms and conditions will work with a client to remove unacceptable content rather than just dusting off and nuking your site from orbit, but they still need to retain the right to do so in the event that you don't respond to/agree with their request, or the content is so unacceptable it requires immediate action. The issue is not whether you will get "in trouble" if a client posts something illegal but rather making sure that you will remove that content if they do, and if you refuse to co-operate then the hosting company can take action themselves while limiting their liability to you for doing so.