united-states freedom-of-speech
If I live in the US can I be prosecuted for answers describing illegal activities?
<p>The internet allows for some level of anonymity and occasionally you will find posts that give detailed descriptions of how to perform an activity that is illegal.  Examples may include how to covertly grow marijuana, or swindle money. </p>

<p>If I live in the US and make posts or provide answers to questions that explain how to perform an activity that is illegal in the US, can I be prosecuted? </p>

<p><em>This question is about sharing the "how to" information only, not actually performing any illegal activity.</em></p>

<p>In general this is protected by the first amendment. It is not in general a problem describing how one can one can do something illegal. But there are special cases to be careful with. You might want to do some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_speech_exceptions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">research into the limits on free speech</a>. It would be hard to provide an answer that fully covers all your different cases and you would need to be more specific about what illegal activity you want to describe. In describing how to do something illegal, you might accidentally share information that you are not allowed to share. When you post things online, this can be considered as publishing or exporting. Therefore certain export restrictions might apply. Also,</p>

<ul>
<li><p>It is illegal to publish bomb making manuals, with the knowledge or intent that this information be used to commit a federal crime of violence. See <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>There are restrictions on publishing material relating to cryptography without having an export license. Granted, this isn't necessarily related to publishing things that are illegal, but just to give an idea about how publishing/exporting knowledge can causes problems. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Traffic_in_Arms_Regulations#ITAR_and_information_technology" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ITAR</a> (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) sets restrictions on what you can publish about arms.</p></li>
<li><p>What you publish can't be <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/395/444" rel="nofollow noreferrer">“directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action.”</a> See for example <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio</a>. One might imagine that you could get into trouble if someone interprets what you do as inciting or producing a lawless action. </p></li>
<li><p>It might sound obvious, but you want to make sure that you have the right to share the information that you have. The information that you are providing might be copyrighted in some way.</p></li>
</ul>
