Hello, Im kind of new here and trying to get used to Lemmy and I was wondering about if this is true since I am considering donating on this site to support alternative projects but wanted to hear other users before doing so. That being said, what have been your experiences?
It depends what you mean. Individual instances have their own approach to moderation, which influences what you will see and have access to. Some are more hands off than others. But if your “free speech” is really just looking for a free pass to hate on folk, then you won’t have much luck with lemmy. There are instances that allow that, but most other instances block them.
I mean if mods ban people for not agreeing with them basically.
Entirely depends on the disagreement. There are instances and communities where bigotry is tolerated. I do not frequent them. I would very much like the mods of the communities I use to continue banning people that disagree with them about things like basic human rights and hate. People are free to share their opinions on basically anything most places on the fediverse. Just don’t be a dick, you should be fine. If the “freedom of speech” you’re looking for is the freedom to be racist, homophobic, transphobic, or generally hateful, you’ll probably be disappointed.
Depends on the substance of the disagreement imo
There are plenty of examples on the ye power trippin bastards community. It’s a classic tale as old as the days of IRC and ancient Greek forums. Moderation can easily be abused if unchecked.