A free press is still accountable to the law. If the press slanders somebody, or publishes illegal content they are liable for it. That is, unless they publish it as user generated content, which was a legal loophole created in the mid 90s to protect websites from liability for user submitted comments. It used to be that if you did not moderate the comments, you were not liable for them (think net neutrality), as you were simply acting as a common carrier. Since that law was passed, you are now free to moderate and editorialize user generated content in any way you see fit, as well as enjoy complete immunity from all liability that would otherwise be associated with that (think the exact opposite of net neutrality).
