not participating signals being apolitical; though participating would raise our status in some communities, it also reduces our perceived impartiality
Like with Wikipedia, the legislation threatens the viability/legality of LW in the US (and this would likely affect every LWer, even us non-US readers). Also, although not being protested, the RWA threatens a significant portion of open science, which could be far, far worse than just removing a website here or there (EDIT, however, this doesn’t directly affect the existence of LW, so I feel the need for LW as an institution to protest is smaller).
So these laws are not necessarily something LW should maintain an apolitical stance.
Like with Wikipedia, the legislation threatens the viability/legality of LW in the US (and this would likely affect every LWer, even us non-US readers). Also, although not being protested, the RWA threatens a significant portion of open science, which could be far, far worse than just removing a website here or there (EDIT, however, this doesn’t directly affect the existence of LW, so I feel the need for LW as an institution to protest is smaller).
So these laws are not necessarily something LW should maintain an apolitical stance.