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Re:Ask HN: Let’s build a new social media platform by Guest19023892 on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @10:23PM (#29733164)
I tried to make a community without censorship at one time. It seemed like a simple enough goal. After all, who was I to judge what's right and wrong? I'd let people post anything they wanted, and if it wasn't illegal, it would be allowed. It also provided a fairly clear line on what was acceptable and I liked that concept.

Well, it went great for a short while. After a couple of years it started to get worse though. A small group of people started posting racist comments and topics. Long term members would then ask why this racism was allowed, and I defended their free speech. Then I started to lose some of the friendly regulars from the community. They got tired of being insulted, and if the community didn't censor of remove racist comments, they argued I was supporting them and giving them a platform to spread hate.

As I watched the community degrade, I realized censorship would be required if I wanted the community to develop into what I envisioned and so I changed course.

In short, no censorship is going to give you a certain type of community, so before starting consider if this is the type of social network you want to bring into the world.

Re:Ask HN: Let’s build a new social media platform by martin938 on Thursday December 30, 2021 @05:18PM (#29742175)
So you favored the most intolerant people (because they were regular) over the most free-speech ones?

The case where the community started already degraded and then evolved towards uncensored participants is also valid.