[Araket]

Personally I think it ultimately comes down to the level of power the person has. An author, celebrity, artist, etc. clearly does not have the same power as someone like say, a governor, congressmen, president, etc.

Now, sure, depending on how the information is presented can and should have responsibilities. But what if say, there is a negative topic in a book like slavery, rape, murder, whatever... and someone takes their own meaning based on that, out of context, and tries to claim the author inspired them to take whatever action? They should not face any ramifications due to that.

It's kind of the whole thing with censorship in music. People will always derive their own meanings out of practically anything. It wouldn't make sense to punish the creator for that because someone misunderstood it or took it too far. i.e. a musician writing a song about their struggles with drug abuse, and a person becoming inspired to do drugs as a result. As Reuben said, just because a topic is included does not mean the person who said/wrote it condones the action or topic.