It isn't even just an issue with /r/coontown and their ilk anymore. The bigots frequently metastasize into other subreddits. I remember seeing threads in default subreddits like news and worldnews completely dominated by racists who upvoted bigoted comments about Muslims and black people and downvoted everyone else, until all alternative perspectives were silenced. Democratic forum moderation is only effective if on the whole the users are reasonable. When you give bigoted people a platform like that, it dilutes the quality of the user pool as a whole and affects people even outside the hate subreddits.
Exactly this. I'd be prepared to grudgingly tolerate "fringe" views if that favor were returned. But it never is. There are certain threads on reddit - really, anything that looks like race might be involved in, or if "feminism" or "rape" is in the title - that I simply will not go. (unless it's a strictly moderated subreddit.) OTOH, there are forums that seem perfectly reasonable, like /r/politics, until you raise an issue - and then you are banned. I was and I still have no idea for what reason. For all I know, it could be valid. It would have been nice to have a chance to respond. It feels like walking on eggshells and I don't care to do that.
Ya, you're right. I also saw that happen. One of the reasons I transitioned away. I'll be honest. I've been very pro-free speech but lately, as I read more discussion on Hubski about the topic and what can happen when it isn't moderated, I'm moving away from it. I do feel there needs to be fair moderation that promotes discussion without harassment. I can see how censorship can be a tool for that but censorship can be and is abused just like free speech is. I still don't think reddit itself was promoting hate speech or putting certain users hateful opinions above welcoming other users. I definitely do no think reddit was doing that. I do understand the issues with free speech within such a large community. I just don't see how censorship isn't a double-edged sword. But you are also correct about democratic forum moderation. It seems you have to entrust a few moderators and believe that they have the well-being of the community in mind when they are moderating and they won't be tempted to moderate to push an agenda or promote a certain ideology.