I recently learned that voting on lemmy is not anonymous. Anyone can get information about who has upvoted and downvoted a post or comment.
In combination with your IP, this is a massive privacy (maybe even physical security) risk. Also, people can target you for your votes.
Sadly, this is something where I would prefer Reddit over Lemmy. Big tech scrapes data from both places anyways, at least Reddit is safe.
I feel like you misunderstand what free speech is.
Calling someone out for any opinion is part of free speech.
Makes sense
To elaborate, the ability to call someone out is literally “free speech”. The backlash you may get for said call out, in speech form, is also part of free speech.
If the government locks you up for what you said, that is not free speech.
Arguably it’s also not free speech if a community allows targeted harassment campaigns but that certainly doesn’t apply to random single comments and moderators exist to hopefully prevent or minimize that.
If you say something that the community doesn’t like and they say “hey we don’t like this” on mass. That is still free speech. They didn’t say you can’t say it. They just disagree. I feel like your argument is incorrect.
You can go take your free thought to another community where it would be welcomed. The platform or community isn’t required to agree on mass or take bs without responding in kind.
How is the ability to say your thoughts impairing your speech?
Edit: Also I feel like you ignored this sentence:
You’re ignoring their concerns about harassment campaigns, which not only happen, but happen on Lemmy specifically due to public voting.
It’s half of the reason Hexbear keeps going through defederation and refrigeration cycles, for example.
A platform isn’t required to give you free speech. You can stand on a corner and talk. A platform like lemmy, doesn’t have to follow free speech. Being harassed on lemmy because you used speech and others are using speech, every has free speech.
Let’s put it another way, if you stood on the corner and said stupid shit and everyone walked by and said that is stupid, is that harassment or you being stupid?
This thing you’re experiencing right now is called cognitive dissonance. Good luck with it.
And the rampant illiteracy.
Thanks, I have terrible spelling and gramma and I have free speech. I feel like your trying to say that if someone says something shitty and you get harassed for the shitty statement, you don’t have free speech. That is incorrect on all levels. You were able to say it. If you get arrested for it, that is not free speech.
Downvote me all you want, I still have my voice.
Yadda yadda blah blah yackity smackity
Edit
Free speech isnt freedom from consequences