Hello, Im kind of new here and trying to get used to Lemmy and I was wondering about if this is true since I am considering donating on this site to support alternative projects but wanted to hear other users before doing so. That being said, what have been your experiences?


You are now dogpiled on and banned from Lemmy.ml and Hexbear
You are vilified and immediately banned from lemmy.blahaj.zone
Let’s be real, your example only works because the mods and admins agree that we should punch nazis.
The big difference is that while you can be banned from one instance, you can still use the rest of Lemmy.
You’re free to say what you want, but individual instances can decide whether they want to platform you. I prefer this over reddit-wide bullshit bans.
But that’s my point, you’re not free to say whatever you want. Even holding a different opinion can draw the wrong attention in the worst ways. The people who dogpile, vilify, and twist your words see no consequences, and only you end up paying by being excluded from the bigger communities for sticking to your words. You will get banned, and your comments will be scrubbed from the modlog.
What you’re saying only works if you’re ok with dealing in smaller communities with less traffic, which is a major complaint seeing as how Lemmy is already a small social media site, or you’re willing to shell out the money to spin up your own instance, which isn’t viable for the people who would love to do that if only money wasn’t a limitation.
What I’m saying is that regardless of how one cuts it, speech isn’t free here. It’s heavily punished and often enforced.