As more mainstream libs are discovering Lemmy, we’re seeing a pattern of complaints that opinions outside the ones they deem acceptable are allowed on the platform. We’ve even seen instances defederating because their userbase does not wish to be exposed to these views.
Interestingly, these are the same people who level censorship and control of free speech as their main critique of communists. What we’re seeing is that these people absolutely don’t care about free speech. They understand the necessity of censorship and actively advocate censoring opinions that they find dangerous. Yet, when societies based on values different from their own use these same tools they screech about authoritarianism.
Turns out it’s not authoritarianism libs hate, but having their own views censored. What actually offends them about places like China is that it’s their ideology that’s being suppressed there.
And interestingly, there’s little defederating going the other way. Honestly the only real criticism I see is that libs don’t like that they can’t regurgitate anti-China made up nonsense without being corrected.
As far as I am aware, we have pretty much exclusively reserved that option for instances that are just overtly cesspools of fascism. Not even in the “scratch a liberal” kind of fascist, but the vocal and proud neo-nazis.
We also always seem to be willing to at least give the libs that wander in a fair shot. They rarely last long, but every so often you get somebody who is actually willing to hear reason.