History Main / EnforcedTechnologyLevels

* The film ''Film/MenInBlack'' features elements of this, as some of the alien cultures humanity has contact with are much more advanced than humans. The MIB organization prohibits certain advanced technologies on Earth, reasoning that humanity shouldn't be allowed to discover them until we're ready.
** They slowly release some of the alien technology using shell companies and finance their operations using the patents. A lot of it is confiscated tech, although some of it is given by friendly aliens.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{TORG}}'', other realities, called "cosms", have invaded Earth. Each cosm has different metaphysical laws, represented by various axioms--social, magic, tech, etc. Naturally, the lower the tech axiom, the worse technology works. In high-tech cosms like the Cyberpapacy or Pan-Pacifica, you can get up to all kinds of advanced sci-fi antics, but in the low-tech Living Land, your fancy power armor is about as useful as tinfoil.

* Only restricted to a single location in ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', but all the technologies within the Oldest House are at most from the 1980's, since anything newer than that does not work within (if smartphones get past the lobby, they ''explode''). Mostly because it's an EldritchLocation. Darling theorizes that it's because newer objects haven't had the time to properly enter humanity's subconscious, as objects being integrated into humanity's subconscious (like how a [[CoolGuns Mauser]] is a symbol for "bad guy gun") is what gives them links to the Astral Plane, which the Oldest House is linked to.

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when Fry becomes a cop and pulls over a scientist for breaking the law of Lorentz's invariance by going [[FasterThanLightTravel 15 miles per hour faster than the speed of light]].

* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', the Federation is prohibited from developing its own cloaking devices due to a treaty they signed with the Romulans (which is like saying only one side can have submarines). The exact nature of the treaty and the situation behind its signing is never specified in canon sources, so it's unclear whether the Romulan Empire similarly agreed to restrict itself technologically, or if the Federation forswore cloaking technology in exchange for territorial concessions.[[note]]The actual reason was to give an in-universe explanation for why the Federation doesn't have cloaking devices, despite stealing a fully functional one from the Romulans in a ''TOS'' episode and despite both the Romulans and Klingons (the other two most powerful nations in their region of the galaxy) employing them extensively. The out-of-universe reason is that cloaking was deemed an ability more suited villains, creating a disadvantage for the Federation heroes to overcome.[[/note]]
** A whole ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'' episode is devoted to trying to cover up one such attempt at developing it in violation of the treaty. This attempt had catastrophically failed because the rogue Starfleet officers tried to leapfrog the Romulans with a cloaking device that would render a ship both invisible and ''[[{{Intangibility}} intangible]]''...and then the device malfunctioned while the test ship was [[TeleFrag passing through an asteroid]].
** In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'', the Romulans give the Federation a single cloaking to mount on a single ship (the USS ''Defiant'') in order to jointly scout the Gamma Quadrant (on the other side of the Bajoran wormhole) and assess the threat of the Dominion, but impose strict limits on its use (it can ''only'' be used in the Gamma Quadrant for anti-Dominion operations, and every other Federation ship is still forbidden to have a cloaking device). Restrictions which the Federation proceeds to ignore every time they find a cloaked ship useful within the Alpha Quadrant. If the Romulans ever found out, they were willing to look the other way because the ''Defiant'' and its cloaking device were never used against ''them'', only against forces that were at the time mutual enemies of the Federation and Romulans.[[note]]If they didn't find out about this abuse, the fact that the Romulan intelligence agency was [[MoleInCharge run by by a Federation spy]] probably helps explain why.[[/note]]
*** In the future seen in the Next Generation Episode "All Good Things..." shows that the Enterprise with a cloaking device, indicating that the treaty was either amended or abandoned by the Federation.
** The game ''VideoGame/StarTrekAwayTeam'' features a modified ''Defiant''-class ship whose holo-masking system tries to sidestep the letter of the treaty, if not the spirit. The USS ''Incursion'' can appear as any other ship, even sending out falsified transponder signals. Not true cloaking, but definitely useful for infiltration. The ship made a cameo in a ''VideoGame/StarTrekArmada II'' mission. The Romulans later steal the technology and use it to attack the joint Federation-Klingon ''Unity'' station. After the Klingons grumble about not being told about the tech, the Federation bans it too.
** The Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novel ''Serpents Among the Ruins'' reveals that the act of terrorism that preceded the Treaty of Algeron (the one banning cloaking tech for the Federation), known as the Tomed Incident, was orchestrated by Starfleet Intelligence and the captain of the USS ''Enterprise''-B in order to make the Romulans look like violent and dishonorable extremists and get the Klingons on their side. They knew ahead of time that the Romulans would insist on the Federation banning all cloaking technology but didn't care. In reality, only six Romulans and no Federation citizens died during the incident (involving a Romulan starship performing a suicide run at an asteroid and disabling containment of its quantum singularity while at warp). The thousands reported killed were, in fact, already dead whose deaths have been quietly covered up.

*** [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Human genetic engineering,]] because the [[GreatOffscreenWar Eugenics Wars]] were a very, very bad thing.
*** Time travel is highly discouraged. Just how readily ''available'' time travel tech is in the Federation, or in the Star Trek universe in general, seems to be a big case of DependingOnTheWriter (Kirk's crew figured out how to do it without too much trouble back in the Original Series, and certainly still remembered how for the fourth movie; but every time Picard or his contemporaries encounter a time warp, it's a huge big deal for them to figure out how to get home), but the Temporal Prime Directive is a law specifically stating that even if you get the chance to time travel, you're not supposed to do it.
*** Any kind of research into creating a stable "omega particle." Theoretically, a stable omega particle would be very useful (for doing... something or other), but an unstable one can screw up warp travel in a wide area for years afterward.

This is a SpeculativeFiction trope where, for whatever reason, there are certain rules about what kinds of technology can exist in a world. The rules may be enforced by some kind of "tech police" that will destroy or confiscate items it doesn't like, [[AWizardDidIt magic]], or even the laws of nature themselves (e.g. what if gunpowder just didn't explode?). These rules effectively (or even explicitly) lock a society into a certain [[TechnologyLevels technological level]].

If there are "Tech Police", they might be a HigherTechSpecies and justify their actions with YouAreNotReady. When magic is involved, this might delve into TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar (since areas [[MagicHarmsTechnology where magic works may not allow technology to work]], and [[ScienceDestroysMagic vice versa]]).

MedievalStasis is a well-known example where technology is (usually inexplicably) locked at some "Medieval" level. FantasyGunControl and NoTranshumanismAllowed are related tropes that deal with (again sometimes unexplained) bans on specific areas of technology.

Compare with SchizoTech, where differing levels of technology are all mashed up together, and DecadeDissonance, when this sort of things arises naturally, not due to any enforcement. NoTechButHighTech is a related trope; the idea that only inventions from recent centuries (Industrial Revolution and later) and beyond count as technology. A group that voluntarily places such restrictions on itself may be SpaceAmish (or just [[UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} real Amish]].)

* In ''Literature/TheThirdTheGirlWithTheBlueEye'', the titular [[SpaceElves Third]] restrict what technology humans are allowed to have in the [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic desert]] following [[WorldWarIII the Great War]]. Any human who tries developing beyond that they are allowed is killed by [[RobotSoldier Blue Breaker]].

** It's stated that they slowly release some of the alien technology using shell companies and finance their operations using the patents. A lot of it is confiscated tech, although some of it is given by friendly aliens (like those tall guys in the picture).
* In ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' Scotty mentions that Starfleet confiscated his transwarp beaming equation.

John Scalzi's ''Literature/OldMansWar'' series has the Colonial Defense Force doing this with Earth. While Earth occasionally gets a bit of new technology all the good stuff stays with the CDF.

* ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'''s [=ComStar=], after its transformation from a neutral power dedicated to maintaining the SubspaceAnsible network into a ChurchMilitant dedicated to hoarding technology, actively sabotaged science facilities and assassinated scientists working for the crippled Successor States that were trying to rediscover LostTechnology after [[ForeverWar suffering from a hundred years of total war]]. Their assassination efforts stagnated almost all technological research for almost a hundred years. When the [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Grey Death Legion]] uncovered the [[LostTechnology Helm Memory Core]] and began to duplicate it, Comstar's grasp began to collapse, which culminated a schism after the Clan Invasion, with Comstar (under new leadership) becoming secular and pro-technology, while the Word of Blake separatists used terror tactics to continue the old Comstar's mission.
* In ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'', The dark legion causes electronics to go haywire, thus most technology has been stumped to diesel punk, till the mega corps can find a way to make their tech to work without the dark legion crippling it.
* TabletopGame/OrbisAerden:ReignOfTheAccursed: Despite being in the equivalent of the 19th century, Steam power is unknown on Aerden, and guns are rare and expensive. This is because the Godspawn have worked to limit technological advancement, making it easier to keep their existence hidden from humanity.

* Only restricted to a single location in ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', but all the technologies within the Oldest House are at most from the 1980's, since anything newer than that does not work within (if smartphones get past the lobby, they ''explode''). Mostly because it's [[EldritchLocation the Oldest House]]. Darling theorizes that it's because newer objects haven't had the time to properly enter humanity's subconscious, as objects being integrated into humanity's subconscious (like how a [[CoolGuns Mauser]] is a symbol for "bad guy gun") is what gives them links to the Astral Plane, which the Oldest House is linked to.

** A more explicit version is the Citadel-enforced ban on developing artificial intelligence due to fear of [[AIIsACrapshoot a rebellion]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' [[HigherTechSpecies Fallen Empires]] with the "Keepers of Knowledge" ethos will declare war on younger empires that attempt to research certain technologies, particularly [[ExtraDimensionalShortcut Jump Drive]], [[spoiler: though given researching that has a chance of releasing the Unbidden it may be justified.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when Fry becomes a cop and pulls over a scientist for breaking the law of Lorentz's invariance by going [[FasterThanLightTravel 15 miles per hour faster than the speed of light]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Exploited by Rick in "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS4E5RattlestarRicklactica Rattlestar Ricklactica]]", where he gives the snake aliens information that would allow them to develop time travel, causing the TimePolice to step in and prevent the snakes from developing advanced technology in the first place, averting their attack on Earth.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_plan The Morgenthau Plan]] after the defeat of the Nazis in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII would have forbidden Germany from any sort of heavy industry, reducing it to an agricultural nation. Among other things, the Plan would have involved the [[BalkanizeMe balkanization]] of Germany into smaller and weaker states, the ceding of the heavily industrialized Ruhr region to France, and the forced dispersal of Germans with engineering skills. The thinking was that this would prevent the Germans from starting WorldWarIII, and the confiscated production materials could help the recovery of nations ravaged by the Nazis such as France or Russia. The idea was abandoned in favor of the Marshall Plan for several reasons:

## German industry was so vital to the pre-war economy of Europe that it would need to be revitalized for the other countries to also have a chance of recovery.

## The Cold War (and the threat of it turning hot) meant that West Germany (the exact place where the front lines would be if war ever broke out) would need to not just reindustrialize but also remilitarize in order to contribute to Western Europe's defense.
** The fact that the Morgenthau Plan became known to Germany before they were defeated also disastrously played right into the Nazis' own wartime propaganda. They were able to present it as "proof" that the Jews (Henry Morgenthau was Jewish) sought to exterminate the German people, and thus all Germans must fight to the death against them. American generals referred to this propaganda as being "worth thirty divisions to the Germans", but the fanatical Morgenthau refused to back down until he was forced to resign by President Truman.
* Speaking of treaties from a world war, the Treaty of Versailles enforced this on Germany and the other Central Powers. Germany in particular was effectively banned from building, fielding, or researching chemical weapons, armored cars, tanks, most military aircraft, Battleships, and submarines. The interwar German Governments engaged in LoopholeAbuse and/or secretly violating the treaty terms to get around this (such as conducting research in the USSR and labelling prototype tanks as industrial tractors).
* To some extent, the world community's treatment of Iran and its nuclear program. Through sanctions and other actions, the world community is "preventing" Iran from achieving nuclear technology, due to the fears of Iran developing nuclear weapons capability.
* The UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} purposefully police themselves, in terms of technology, as they believe in a simpler kind of lifestyle and think that modern technology will tempt and lead people away from religion/God.
** Though it's a little more complex than straight TechnologyLevels, some Amish will occasionally admit the use of specific items of modern technology, but only if it doesn't interfere with their way of life. So, for example, phones are not permitted in the home, but they might have a one in a "phone shanty" shared amongst the community in case of emergency. Acceptance of technology also varies between Amish sub-sects, with some going further than the rest.

This is a SpeculativeFiction trope where, for whatever reason, there are certain rules about what kinds of technology can exist. The ways these rules are enforced vary, from the the relatively mundane (some kind of "technology" police) to fantastic (magic, nanotech, or the laws of nature themselves). What's consistent, though, is that these rules will effectively (or even explicitly) lock a society into a certain [[TechnologyLevels technological level]].

When magic is involved, this might delve into a [[TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar Magic Versus Technology War]] (since areas [[MagicHarmsTechnology where magic works may not allow technology to work]], and [[ScienceDestroysMagic vice versa]]). For a rather specific example (when it's played literally), see MedievalStasis. Compare with SchizoTech, where differing levels of technology are all mashed up together. Compare DecadeDissonance, when this sort of things arises naturally, not due to any enforcement.

See also YouAreNotReady, which might be the justification for keeping certain areas at a lower tech level; NoTechButHighTech, the idea that only technology from recent centuries (circa Industrial Revolution) and beyond counts as technology; FantasyGunControl, where guns do not appear in a standard MedievalEuropeanFantasy setting regardless of the tech level. NoTranshumanismAllowed applies a similar ban to a specific area of advancement rather than a level of technology in general. A group that voluntarily places such restrictions on itself may be SpaceAmish (or just, well, [[UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} Amish.)]]

* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', the world is a barren wasteland ([[SchizoTech though one filled with mechas]]). This is because humanity has been forced underground by the Spiral King Lordgenome, because [[spoiler:humanity's potential would otherwise cause them to grow at an exponential rate and threaten the return of the Anti-Spirals. This is proven by the TimeSkip, in which the world has become futuristic in a matter of seven years]].

** It's also established that the [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] has strict rules over the technology associated villains can utilize in their battles against their archenemies so they don't cause mass destruction and escalate things, or get themselves killed by trying to take on someone way out of their league. They call the system Equally Matched Aggression (EMA) levels with firearms being level 5, {{Wave Motion Gun}}s level 8, and the most dangerous heroes/villains like FakeUltimateHero Dr. Venture and [[TookALevelInBadass eventually the Monarch]] being 10.