I'm new to Bitcoin, so I might not understand this situation well enough, in which case I would really appreciate some reassurance that Bitcoin is okay, because I am worried.

From what I understand, the so-called Bitcoin Ordinals are bits of data such as text or images that are inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain itself, either whole or in parts for larger files, rather than a link to an asset like an NFT.

But what happens when a malicious actor inscribes illegal exploitative images, which then become part of the blockchain? If this happens, it would then become illegal to own a copy of the blockchain itself because of the images included in it. This would be a justifiable reason to make having a copy of the blockchain illegal in a way that most people would accept. Am I missing something? Is there a way to mine and use the blockchain without this inscribed data?

I can imagine malicious government actors doing this as a way to have an excuse for governments around the world to seize any computer with a copy of the blockchain and imprison the person who copied the blockchain because they knowingly possessed illegal exploitative images. It's one thing that Bitcoin can be used to buy such images, but it's quite another to have to possess such images in order to use Bitcoin. The way I see it, that could justifiably destroy the reputation of Bitcoin and make it very difficult for people to use and destroy its ability to become a viable currency standard for the world. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if it were just a link or a hash of an image or something to prove ownership, but when you have to actually have to download illegal files to use Bitcoin, it becomes a serious issue.

Please tell me I'm missing something with how this works and that it cannot be exploited this way. If not, what can be done about it? This whole Ordinal business has me very concerned that this will ruin the future of Bitcoin. I'm hearing a lot about high tx fees, traffic jams, a bloated chain and such, but I think all that misses the real threat to Bitcoin.