This is 100% what I’ve been thinking for years. The idea of cultivating “free speech” without also putting down racist/sexist/xenophobic/etc. language and talk allows for breeding of those ideas.
Here are two scenarios everyone should consider. Scenario one allows for these ideas to spread. Scenario two stops them in their tracks and prevents them from spreading further.
Scenario 1
User 1: (says something racist/sexist/xenophobic/etc)
User 2: wtf that’s not okay to say.
User 1: lol it was a joke bro. Don’t be such a snowflake
User 2 and others: oh lol. My bad man. That was actually funny.
User 1 now feels confident they can continue to say things until it becomes normalized and no longer challenged.
Scenario 2
User 1: (says something racist/sexist/xenophobic/etc)
User 2: wtf that’s not okay to say.
User 1: lol it was a joke bro. Don’t be such a snowflake
User 2 and others: no dude that isn’t okay even if you’re joking. I’m gonna report it and have the mods take it down.
Mods proceed to take down the post. User 1 now feels uncertain that their ideas will be accepted and proceeds to maybe try again but most likely either stop posting those things and stick to running or they will stop visiting the board.
Being a place that allows free speech is fine but that doesn’t give you a free pass from being challenged, called out for and moderated for any form of hate speech. Everything you say has ramifications. If you don’t believe me, go checkout r/byebyejob to see the racists who have lost their jobs for their words. They have every right to say what they want, which I’m glad that they feel that convicted about it. But that right doesn’t prevent them from feeling the ramifications of those words in their personal life.