After all this discussion, yes I get it. The key learning is here you are free to create non-free speech subs and be your own totalitarian, within ToS, if that shit is what flips your skirt up.
Nice bait post, but you are deeply mistaken about Voat.
Voat was way worse that what you try to paint Poal with.
Voat had plenty of 'user' subs that were banning users just for the lolz.
Voat was filled with brigading shills who could silence anyone with mass-downvotes with the benediction of Putt (who admitted, before he shoah'd the site on Christmas day, he was part of it with an alt account).
On Poal, you can't brigade users to the point where they can't comment/post anywhere/anymore.
Poal is a free speech platform (with a very few set of rules defined in the ToS) and users are free to subscribe to a user sub or block it.
If you don't like a sub, feel free to block it and move on, or even better, make your own.
I bet you had a laugh watching the action yesterday. My misunderstanding. If I was aware that a POAL sub could be structured to restrict my speech like , I'd long forgotten about it. Now, after much excitement, I won't forget. Yes, POAL is tamer than VOAT, the minimalized down voting/brigading, elimination of porn, great up time, and other features make it a better platform.
I don't want to make my own subs and have the burden of maintaining them, although searching for sub categories that don't yet exist tempt me ... just to have that category established as a repository for breaking news that I post (I.e. "Brazil", " Trump2024", etc) but I don't want to be the one cluttering the list of sub categories. I can usually find a sub that these articles will fit into but at times it's challenging. I like organized and intuitive structure.
If I was aware that a POAL sub could be structured to restrict my speech
You are still deeply mistaken. It's not about restricting your speech and it's not specific to Poal. It has always been that way.
That's how subs work on all social media platforms that let you create sub communities. You can define a set of rules (that do not supersede with the ToS) and run your community as you please.
If you create a sub about bicycles and make a rule that forbids users from talking/sharing content about motorcycles (or any other vehicles), this is your right.
What would you think if someone was making a post complaining that you are taking away their speech (the right to talk about trucks in your bicycles sub)?
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