The state
of Texas has just ignited an unexpected debate in the otaku and geek community:
the classic Dragon Ball Z was removed from the shelves of the
Kaboom Comics store, located in Weslaco. The reason was not a lack of sales,
but the fear of violating the new legislation known as Senate Bill 20
(SB20), which seeks to punish "inappropriate" content...
although its ambiguous wording is already reaching manga and comics that were
never created with that intention.
Andrew
Balderas, manager
of the store, explained that some volumes of Dragon Ball Z include
comical scenes in which Goku appears naked as a child. Although they were
created in a humorous context decades ago, Balderas preferred to caution:
"It was risky to leave those volumes on display under the new law. Better
to remove them than to face legal consequences."
What
SB20 says
Passed
earlier this year with broad support, the law was designed to curb the creation
of inappropriate material with artificial intelligence. However, it points out
that "representations, regardless of whether they are drawings, animations
or images created with AI" can be illegal. That opens the door for mangas
or anime with innocent scenes, but controversial under certain eyes, to end up
in the crosshairs.
The
domino effect
The measure
has generated concern among bookstores and specialized stores. How do you
review decades of publications to make sure nothing can be construed as
illegal? Fans fear that more franchises will suffer preemptive cuts, generating
an environment of unintentional censorship in the industry.
A
classic at risk
That a work
as influential as Dragon Ball Z is withdrawn in the United
States reflects how confusing the situation is. For most followers, those
panels were never offensive, but the fear of legal misinterpretations turns
manga into "collateral damage" of a law that sought something else:
to regulate AI and exploitative content.
???? And
now the question goes for you: Do you think that this law in Texas is a necessary measure to
regulate AI or an exaggeration that ends up censoring classics like Dragon
Ball Z? We read them in the comments.
