Hi!
If you're reading this, you've probably gotten banned (or seen someone get banned) for alt-right rhetoric - and you might be wondering how that can possibly be fair. Shouldn't people be allowed to have a difference of opinion? Shouldn't we respond with arguments instead of censorship?
The answer is, very bluntly put: no. Trolls already know all of this and can stop reading here, but for the rest of you, here's a short explanation of why alt-right rhetoric gets you banned.
Let's address first things first: shouldn't people be allowed to have a difference of opinion? In a literal sense, yes - however, not all opinions are equal. In particular, there is no room in this community for hateful ideologies, such as that of the alt-right. Opinions that cannot recognize the fundamental worth of human beings are not worth discussing, because they will never lead to constructive conclusions, and explicitly intend to harm others.
So yes, a difference in opinion is perfectly fine - just not if that opinion is "some other group does not deserve to be treated respectfully, because of who they are". I care a lot more about the health of this community and society in general, than I do about leaving space for the opinions of some bigot - and I'd much rather have constructive discussion on how to create a better world for everyone, where everyone already agrees that that's the fundamental goal.
Next: shouldn't we respond with arguments instead of censorship? Especially if that person may not even realize that they're wrong? This is the one that trips up most people. It seems reasonable to respond to false claims with arguments that show them to be false, right? Wouldn't it benefit everyone to bring out the facts? Unfortunately, this doesn't work with alt-right ideology, because it isn't about facts.
Alt-right ideology is a tower of lies - and I mean that pretty literally. It's lies stacked upon lies; debunking one lie will cause someone to respond with another lie, and so on. By the time you're done deconstructing the entire tower - if you ever get there at all - the other person will just quietly stop responding, and they will have borrowed your audience for two hours, making appeals to emotion and otherwise sowing distrust among the rest of your community.
This is by design. Alt-right ideology is not supposed to make sense; it's designed to invade. To snipe people into arguing about it, accepting certain unspoken assumptions, and controlling the narrative that way. The "Alt-Right Playbook" video series has an excellent video that goes into more detail, with examples.
The point of the ban isn't to prove that someone is wrong or to "suppress the truth"; it's to prevent them from radicalizing other people through propaganda and emotional manipulation. You wouldn't fight someone who doesn't fight fair either, would you?
Now, maybe you didn't intend to do that. Maybe you really believe that your views are accurate. That's quite possible! I'm certainly not saying that everyone who follows alt-right ideology has bad intentions, or that they are intentionally hateful. But whether you realize it or not, your arguing will still have this effect, and that is why it's still not allowed.
If you are genuinely interested in counterarguments, then I'd be happy to provide you with some pointers in DM. I'm still not going to have an endless discussion, but I can certainly give you some of the most crucial information towards understanding the problems with your arguments. This offer also remains valid after you've been banned, and I'd be happy to welcome you back into the community once you've changed your mind.
Finally, one more point: maybe you weren't arguing all that much, just making some normal comments, and you still got banned. Why? It's probably because there are alt-right talking points showing through in your comments - whether you realize it or not. These have the same effect of radicalizing people and turning a community hateful over time, just over a longer timespan.
If you're not sure what comments got you banned, then feel free to ask me about it - either in PM or, if the ban happened in a PrivacyTools room, in the #community:privacytools.io room.
This text is licensed under the CC0/WTFPL, at your choice - feel free to adapt it in any way for your own community, with or without attribution. It's probably best if you use the same license, though, so that other people can reuse your version as well.