I can comment in this thread, but no one will see it. I've never interacted with the submitter in any way, but they have me on mute. Due to this feature, I'm shut out of a conversation that's likely unrelated to the one that led them to mute me. By being first to submit it, they have the power to decide who can and can't discuss it.
Does this bother anyone else? We shouldn't have to worry about how our (hopefully) civil disagreements might lead us to be shut out of unrelated conversations.
edit: It looks like they unmuted me, but the problem remains.