All The Tropes Wiki Project, Part XXXI

[Labster]

I agree with Rob.  We need to be prepared for an instant switchover, if we don't move the wiki outright before then.

Out runway for operating legally in the United States may be running short. There is a proposed new law on obscene content according to Reason Magazine. Depending on how it’s implemented, we might be in the clear due to not directly hosting NSFW content, but the definition of possibly arousing or titillating the viewer seems incredibly broad.

I don’t think this should be a panic event, this senator has apparently tried before and failed. But we should seriously pursue a site backup outside the states.

Agreed. This would smash against free speech protections so hard it's not funny. Also, to be frank, I seriously doubt, long-term, we have anything to worry about. We've been down this road before, and even under super conservatives worse than this free speech protections have generally held.

I may be in the minority here, but I say we just keep our heads down and this too shall pass, and we are unlikely to ever suffer harm from the circumstances that prompted this scare.

I'm a bit in-between.  Congress proposing a law is like, well, they have only barely managed to not destroy the market for T-bills, several times in the past few years.  How are they going to manage to pass any controversial laws?  After Obamacare, pretty much all major government actions have been made by the President and then the courts and Congress deciding if they want to go along with it after the fact.  So this specific bill isn't really a threat.

Of course, those specific conditions make authoritarian rule very attractive -- the squabbling elites can't govern, and we need a strong leader to take charge and get things done.  We really have to worry about Trump alone.  I think Trump himself wouldn't care to ban obscenity, since he doesn't really mind the gays or porn.  But as a tool to use against those who don't praise him in media?  Maybe.  I'd suspect he'd use different tools, however.