We need to talk.

I think it is time Derpibooru starts looking for a way to be subjected to American law. More precisely the First Amendment.
 
Why? It is an art site, many good artists however are no longer featured due to the site being forced to abide European laws which are not precisely in favor of artistic freedom.
 
Currently it affects mostly loli and anthro foalcon artists, who, no matter how far from explicit the art is, still risk persecution in European countries. But eventually, especially under the even encroaching “hate speech” laws in Germany, many art which displays things against German policies risks censorship.
 
Despite your views on different art, I blieve it is time this site finds a way to allow a lot more artistic freedom, otherwise we will eventually lose more good artists.  
I fear the day when Aryanne would be fobidden, just as part of Lumineko’s and AnibaruTheCat’s work has been forbidden. I fear the day when, despite my disdain for watersports and gore, they will be forbidden. I fear the day when edgy jokes will no longer be allowed.
 
I live in a country where artistic freedom is protected by law, and seeing what Europe is doing to artists is simply unacceptable from this perspective.
 
Maybe my words will fall on deaf ears, but I seriously think you need to find a way to find backing from the first amendment, or any other laws that protect artistic freedom no matter what. Right now, by following the laws mandated by Europe, Germany in particular, we sit on a ticking bomb which will harm us a lot more than it protects us.
 
If there is a thread on a related matter by the way, I failed to see it.

I’m the fun police and I’m here to shut you all down!

I’m sure a mod will come along in a minute and say this in a much better way, but I’ve seen what went on behind the scenes and I’m gonna give this my best shot.
 
First, everything about the site - servers, owner, the whole shebang - is based in Europe. Assuming you knew this, then, the only practical way to ensure the site falls under American law is to move all of that to the US. And frankly, I don’t see TSP moving to the US anytime soon.
 
Second, the laws regarding loli in America are a lot more restrictive than you’d think, and in some really headache-inducing ways. I guarantee you that US law doesn’t give a free pass to art in this regard.
 
Lastly, and most important, even if every last bit of foalcon and CP art were legal, it is ultimately up to the guys who run this site to create and enforce policy on this. Yes, even policy more restrictive than the law.
 
That’s why, even if some borderline cases of anthro could be legally interpreted as ok, they’re well within their rights to say “better safe than sorry” and draw the line somewhere that didn’t cause a three-man committee to sit around spending a good portion of their time debating over whether something is foalcon or not.

You don’t seem to understand what the First Amendment actually means, but you can be forgiven for not knowing that, given that your IP address indicates that you don’t actually live in America yourself, so…. Yeah… Also I won’t expose what country you do live in, out of respect for your privacy, but I can assure you that based on my two minutes of research, loli is very much illegal where you live.
 
Regardless, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to government censorship. That means that the government can’t prevent you from spewing racist/sexist/homophobic/vaccines-cause-autism/the-earth-is-flat/whatever bullshit. You’re free to have and state whatever opinion you want, and the government cannot punish you for having that opinion, no matter how stupid or assholish it may be.
 
The First Amendment does not apply to illegal activities though. You can’t just do whatever you want and say “oh, it’s protected by First Amendment, I can say what I want.” It doesn’t work that way. If you yell “FIRE!” in a crowded room to cause a panic, that’s not free speech, that is illegal and you’d be arrested. Likewise if you make a threat against a police officer, that’s not an opinion, that’s a threat, and you’ll be arrested if you’re lucky, shot if you’re not so lucky.
 
More importantly too is that the First Amendment is something the government has to abide by, not private individuals or groups. This is a privately owned website, we can allow and ban whatever the hell we please. Even if the servers were hosted in a country where such content was perfectly legal and allowed, we still wouldn’t host it. That’s something that’s been discussed before as a hypothetical, and we decided that it’s just something we don’t want to host at all, regardless of the legal situations surrounding it.

@WingbeatPony  
First. Yes, it costs lots of money to move the entire site from one server to another. True. But I am sure most of those who help keeping this site working thorugh donations would not mind helping with the move.  
Second, there are ways to move the site “ownership” without making the current man in charge lose its place.  
Third, yes, loli art in America is still a conflicting topic, but pleading the first more often than not protects others here. I mean, many loli artists ar based in America.  
Fourth, not the only country protecting free speech.
 
 
And finally. I really don’t get it. A drawing of a naked minor is forbidden, heck, even a minor in suggestive clothing can be forbidden. A Nazi pony is controversial. But somehow it is all OK with a drawing of a man raping Sweetie Belle in front of Rarity and shooting Sweeetie Belle with a gun…
 
I will say it once again, and I know many here will hate this, especially admins. But these rules are not precisely consistent nor functional. And eventually it will blow up on everyone’s faces.
 
I know, of my times dwelling in the internet, that sites sometimes move to protect artistic freedom and free speech when threatened by govenrments. Not the first time it would happen.
 
If yo want to dismiss my suggestion that is fine, just mark my words. Censorship eventually will catch up with all of us. We all like something others might find deplorable.

@raakamagna  

 
Laws against depictions of minors engaging in sex usually are designed with hentai in mind, so they generally focus on human-like minors. Furry/anthro stuff of this nature has so far (AFIAK) avoided the attention of lawmakers.

@raakamagna  
I should also mention that at one point, they did actually consider finding a place to host the servers that wasn’t beholden to French/UK/German law…which was also affordable and could handle the amount of traffic the site used. Which doesn’t exist. And then you’ve got Cloudflare which puts everything right back at square one. Good luck finding a CDN based entirely in Norulesistan.
 
And I agree with you: These laws were lobbied for and written by people looking to uphold a certain moral code, and practical thoughts to gray areas of the law as written are often swept under the rug. This can lead to situations where a law is hilariously overreaching (FLORIDA ACCIDENTALLY BANS COMPUTERS), but always means the line is blurred and in some cases nonexistent. Which makes life awfully hard for people whose job it is to set clear guidelines.
 
But to be perfectly honest? You’re a little late to the party. We’ve already had to jump through hoops with Russian censorship and the guilt-by-association thing that happened when images on the site got hotlinked on actual CP forums. The laws in the US and Europe are already so open to interpretation that I wouldn’t be surprised if half the porn on the site is technically illegal. And yes, Exedrus, that means furry stuff too. Read up on France’s laws sometime.

@WingbeatPony  
Well. At least my point of how the current state of affairs could lead to a disastrous result is being heard. That is what the talk had to be about. I used loli because it is the current example. Let’s say the canary in the coal mine is acting funny already.

This comes up every so often, so I’ll just do some quick bullet points:
 
 

@WingbeatPony  

 
They’ve prosecuted furry stuff recently? I haven’t really kept up with France’s law since I brought it up to Princess Luna a few years ago.

I think the point is mostly missed.  
Look. This post is titled “We ned to talk” for a reason. It was never just about loli.
 
The mention of loli and anthro foalcon is because, they are the things that were once allowed to some extent, but currently are entirely forbidden.
 
If the admins can promise with a straight face (figuratively) that no more content will end up forbidden in such manner. Then it is case closed. It is not as if it was the only place where such content could be found.  
But we are all aware such thing is not possible. It is after all not the admins who make the laws of nations.
 
The core of the argument was never about that content in particular. But about the fact that eventually, the prohibition will extend. And I recommend to act before that happens.
 
Now, you say The United States would be more prone to censorship. But I am not entirely sure about that. Especially since laws such as the PROTECT act are not followed in all states.
 
Back to my point. The current state of affairs is not precisely beneficial to this site. Eventually a politician with an axe to grind will declare all drawn pornography with non humanoids as bestiality, and then the tag “Anatomically correct” will suffer the same fate.
 
I am pretty much sure if this site has avoided legal trouble so far is because authorities and moral busibodies have ignored it.
 
I am well aware most possible solutions to avoiding any content prohibition are not an easy task. They take time and money, expecially money. But at least it is possible to find a solution other than banning content to the whims of fickle authorities.
 
I am in no position to command. I just seek a conversation on a current situation which will eventually affect everyone. Keep in mind that nowadays censorship is a serious issue. I hope my words will be, at some point, taken into considerations. But I fear, right now, most just take them as offense.
 
Maybe I am just bad at dlivering my words properly, but I must repeat. This is not just about loli. Heck, this is pretty much not about loli, or anthro foalcon for that matter. This is about the threat of censorship spreading to things that are, as of now, allowed and that conform a fair portion of the content in this site.

 
 
REPENT, THE END FOR PONY PUSSY IS NEAR!  
THE END IS NEAR, WE MUST MOVE THE SERVERS!  
SAVE THE PONY PUSS, MOVE SERVERS NOW!

@Background Pony #87E7  
AHHHHHHHHHH!

@raakamagna  
If there is a change in laws that could affect the content we host, we will evaluate said laws and make a decision accordingly.
 
Keep in mind, most of our content policy is based around being decent people and not the laws. For example, making a hard-fetish or gore edit of someone else’s artwork isn’t necessarily illegal, but we still ban it under rule #1 because the original artist likely wouldn’t condone it.
 
We do respect all applicable laws, but they’re not the sole deciding factor in what we don’t allow on the site either.

@Joey  
Thanks for the response. I am glad to see I was able to finally explain my ideas.

The first amendment should only apply if and only IF the site has become large enough to be considered a public forum. Like say twitter or facebook. Those companies NEED to be subject to the 1st amendment since they are so large and have an influence on our society.