I joined this place three and a half years ago, back when That Other Site first showed signs of kowtowing to the "Fempire" and everyone else who wanted speech banned because they found it offensive. Back then, nobody considered Voat a "hate" site. It was simply the site that people went to when they had an opinion that their go-to places on the internet didn't want to hear.
Of course, lots of places on the internet don't want to hear stuff like racial epithets or wackaloon conspiracy theories or Holocaust denial. So if a person came to Voat, it was likely to share such content. Thus, they became the most visible community on this site and the face of this site to outsiders.
But Voat is not solely comprised of them. There are users like me, who maintain subverses like v/Purr and v/MyLittlePony and v/OwlsBeingPetted. Could I just go to That Other Site for such content? Sure, but I'd be betraying my core values. I'd be patronizing a site that was guilty of false advertising by claiming to be anti-censorship. Voat is also home to those who consider free speech to be an absolute good and refuse to compromise their ideals.
Do I often come across content on the front page that I find unpalatable? Certainly. But to quote Chomsky, if we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. I'm often offended by what people say on this site, but not as offended as I'd be if they weren't allowed to say it. You can block users or entire subverses if you want; the only ethical recourse you have against free speech is refusal to listen.
Join the haters. Debate them. Ignore them and stick to subverses you don't mind. Create your own communities. Just don't demand that anyone get banned or censored when their only crime was offending you.
Here's what sets a free speech-oriented site like Voat apart from the censorious sites. If a topic of discussion is censored on such a site, it's probably gone forever. Anyone who suggests lifting the ban on such speech would risk getting banned themselves. The list of acceptable topics keeps getting ratcheted back. But here, anyone can talk about whatever they want without fear, and the worst that can happen is that nobody would be interested in responding. The topics of debate and discussion aren't going anywhere.
Voat may not be pretty. But the world often isn't pretty either. I for one would rather face reality than a comforting lie. So set up an account, and do what you will.
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[–] xenoPsychologist ago
theyve earned some oven time. your words of wisdom are wasted on the somalians.