No Stupid Questions

Well, I think that it would be if not impossible, then extremely difficult to do that, as the amount of people they'd have to catch would be gigantic.

But I think it's best to be prepared for a lot of social media bans and restrictions. (Think China or Saudi Arabia)

And if you happen to partake in protests, do NOT confess to it online. This is especially important if you're doing anything illegal, but looking at what the situation is over there, I'd say that it applies to peaceful protesting as well. Take care.

Extremely unlikely. Not for another 20 years or so, worst case scenario, and by then they probably won't care about now.

First off, there's way too many people who criticize the government to arrest everyone, secondly it's completely unnecessary. Complaining about the government doesn't really do anything other than allowing people to vent their frustrations and feel more content. It's the same way Trump obviously isn't going to "end elections forever" like people say, virtually every country in the world has elections, regardless of how actually democratic they are, because they're a nice little ritual that lets you feel free and in control. It would be like saying that Trump is going to knock down the Statue of Liberty - he doesn't have to.

Now, there are reasons to establish more secure lines of communication, like if you're involved in actual organizing or if you're either helping people do illegal things or planning to help people do things that could potentially become illegal - for example, shipping Plan B or trans hormones to people in red states. Laws in some red states about "pushing transgenderism on minors" could theoretically be interpreted so broadly that if you post information or supportive messages on a public forum and a minor in a red state happens to see it, they could try to come after you for it - but that would probably be found unconstitutional.

Using secure lines of communication for routine, everyday stuff helps keep those lines secure by generating more chaff they'd have to sort through, as well as familiarizing yourself with it and getting more people on board. However, you shouldn't scatter to the wind preemptively and self-censor, beyond just not fed-posting.

It's more about setting up a system that rewards your neighbour for snitching on you. If that system is practical online, only time will tell. It worked well irl for other fascists.

Please watch this video about dictatorships and what to look out for.

I don't think this is something we have to worry about in the near future and I don't think it will happen under Trump. What concerns me is the way the "system" is being set up so that alternative points of view or other parties just won't have a chance to win an election or survive a lawsuit.

The groundwork is being laid so that people way more extreme than what we are seeing now can come into power and then stay in power without any way of removing them.

The current administration is setting things up where in order to "count" you have to be 1) loyal to Trump and 2) loyal to the republican party (don't want any RINOs!). Heck, you can subscribe to typically republican principals (lower taxes, lower spending, right to bear arms, strong military, etc...) but you aren't a "real" republican unless you un-waveringly support Trump.

But a true patriot is loyal to the Constitution. But now, you can't be a republican and be loyal to the constitution, you have to be loyal to Trump. And that is setting things up to go very badly.

Less likely if we are gun owners

Wasn't aware that US citizens knew of the existence of other counties, maybe excepting that they are all in Europe; Africa being another, possibly different, country.

Jokes aside. It's not much better here in the UK.

I'm not going to travel to the US just in case they triangulate my ID. Haven't said anything terribly bad about USA but still, why risk it.

Zero percent chance of that happening. C'moon now..

Why arrest when it is enough to disable credit cards?

I don’t see them coming for all of us. It’s just not practical to arrest everyone who complains.

It all comes down to other characteristics:

• are you someone influential or high profile they can make an example of, to promote fear?
• do you have any connection to another country, no matter how tenuous, where they can use this as an excuse to deport?
• are you part of another demographic bias they want to persecute, such as lgbt, where they can use this as an excuse to legally persecute?

Every single person who disagrees with the administration on the internet? Incredibly unlikely. That'd be literally 10s of millions of people, if not over 100 million. The US prison system currently has a capacity of ~2 million. It's estimated that globally there are ~11.5 million people in prisons. So you're talking about locking up several times more people than are currently locked up. It's just not possible.

The scale of what you're suggesting is just unimaginable. How much manpower would be needed to lock up tens of millions of people? Nearly the entire non-incarcerated population of the US would need to be employed in building and staffing prisons and doing the police work to track down and arrest people.

And what would that do to the US (and global) economy to remove tens of millions of people from the workforce and force the rest of the population into servicing those prisons?

Even in the strictest countries with the most draconian censorship, they don't lock up people who are just disagreeing with the dictator/administration. They lock up people who make a name for themselves and get recognition/go viral. If you have an account that gets a HUGE following and you don't just disagree, but attack and criticize, then you might end up with some problems.

To avoid this, just don't let yourself get a big following with an account that's super critical. If you notice you start to get a following, just delete that account and start a new one.

If they come for you, they come for me, and many many more. Don't pay personal information, you shouldn't do that anyways

Would be fun to see the US turn into full dictatorship, but we wont see that. They have too much to lose to be openly hostile to citizens speaking their mind, specially online where it doesnt even matter.

If a big public figure starts saying uncomfortable truths to the media and they have a big following, then maybe Trump will try and contain that somehow, but you and me online? We dont matter.

it's pretty stupid and delusional to think you're going to jail for posting things on social media. in countries where this actually happens (mine for example) you need to be stirring up some viral controversy which directly effects an interest of the government. it wouldn't be useful to put every rambling stepdad in jail and they wouldn't have the resources to do it anyway

I have the RIGHT to freedom of speech and expression and I will not waive it for Trump or anyone else. Without it, there is no United States.

Fuck Donald Trump. Fuck Elon Musk. Fuck the Republicans. Fuck the oligarchy. Fuck authoritarianism. Fuck this fear, and fuck advance compliance.

I serve no fucking king.

I hate to be all doom and gloom but if the government decided tomorrow that disagreeing with trump was a crime then it's probably already too late for you.

The amount of information about people online is pretty shocking and no amount of cleaning up after yourself could save you at this point.

On the other hand, it probably won't devolve that fast so you're probably ok?

Honestly Lemmy is way too small to be monitored and acted upon.

So even though the question is interesting I think deleting Lemmy because of the current administration is an over reaction.

On the contrary you probably have the opportunity to freely dissent here when others on mainstream socials networks can't.

But I'm European so it's easy for me to say that this is probably safe here. You have to evaluate the risk yourself but I think no administration gives a single sh** about Lemmy.

Well, if I know my lore, the fediverse, Lemmy included, was created by self avowed communists.

And if the Luigi shenanigans, that is to say the censorship brought to bear on any discussion of the man or his alleged crime, have shown us anything; it's that the powers that be very much fear a class war. Besides wich commies have long been a favorite windmill to tilt at.

I think it's safe to assume anything posted on here gets logged and analyzed.

That having been said, eat the rich, free Palestine, and healthcare for all!!