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Once a smart contract is out there on the blockchain, it can't be removed, it can only self-destruct. A smart contract can store around 1.49 GB of data (source: Is there a (theoretical) limit for amount of data that a contract can store?)

So what would happen if somebody deployed a smart contract, which contains some illegal material? e.g. copyright infringement or worse?

How would it be possible to remove that? Is there no danger that the ETH blockchain would be fully loaded with undeletable illegal material?

I'm more into the theoretical side. Maybe not 1.49 GB but a few images. Images from somebody without consent etc. Impossible to remove, censor.

Edit: someone, apparently without reading the question and trying to understand it, closed this as being a duplicate of the following questions:

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  • Welcome to the Ethereum Stack Exchange! I think close enough duplicate, and see storage questions like ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/444/…
    – eth ♦
    May 25, 2017 at 1:17
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    @eth I don't feel like the answers to any of those questions that this has been marked as a duplicate to is an answer to this one. There's a difference between an illegal program/smart contract and illegal copyrighted data. The answer to who can be sued (everyone who is storing and redistributing the data) is very different.
    – Hjulle
    Oct 1, 2022 at 10:15
  • Can I please ask not to close the question without even reading it and trying to understand what it is about, just to score some moderation points? Sincerely appreciated.
    – Adam Szabo
    Oct 3, 2022 at 11:11
  • @Hjulle The question might not be the same, but the answer applies to both smart contracts and content. That question is still open and new answers could be added there. Obviously everything blockchain is "new" and the situation might change when new laws and cases are introduced.
    – Ismael ♦
    Oct 3, 2022 at 16:42
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    @Hjulle and Adam Part of the reason why this question is closed is because it is a poor fit for stackexchange. ethereum.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask "You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face." Perhaps Reddit is more suitable for "more into the theoretical side" questions like this. Maybe this might help bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/14056/… since Bitcoin has faced it in a 2018 comment and has anything happened?
    – eth ♦
    Oct 5, 2022 at 6:34

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