Interesting. Yes, I guess these are still issues we're figuring out as a society/species/whatever. I'd never heard of MIT's deliberatorium and I think it's neat that people are trying things like this. "Collaborative software" gee I guess it's a big world of things people have tried if I want to get into it.

It's also interesting to me to hear about these kinds of problems in the scientific world, because it's not an environment I've been part of very much.

The approach I am drawn to right now is private spaces for each individual where they can design things to their own preference, whatever it is, and choose to interact with who they want when they want how they want. Like tumblr, twitter, gab, etc. I've been meaning to check out the fediverse. I just haven't yet found a platform like that that I like yet, and I do find reddit's style easier to use than gab-like style. I'll find or build something probably, SaidIt was just what I explored this time.

And I think we have different ideas about what "free speech" means. To me, free speech means I and others get to say what we want how we want, but it doesn't require anyone to listen or talk to us when we do. I would consider a platform to be "free speech" as long as it doesn't remove the content, even if that content is very unpopular, or even if one group dominates most conversation. For example, while I don't like it's interface, I would consider Gab to be acting as a free speech platform right now (though people are suspicious about it for various reasons, and there might be things going on behind the scenes that I don't know about). Does a particular flavor of alt-right tend to dominate there? Sure. Other stuff seems to have a fine time existing there though -- I've encountered a pro-Trump black conservative group of users that generally oppose the anti-black and sometimes pro-white content, various narrative-challenging flavors of conservative, muslim supremacists, and people that just don't seem so interested in partisan politics. Does everyone listen to them and engage in a constructive way? No. Can they have a place to say what they want to say? Yes, it seems so.

The issue with governments censoring content is an important one, though, and one that is harder to address than just changing platform.