I agree with you re: exploring all opinions. I like this site specifically because I can engage with a variety of points of view without being pepper-sprayed with derision.

Some things you may have missed or misunderstood:

1) this is not my house and i am not a mod or an owner, just a user

2) there is no downvoting

3) there is a block user and a mute sub option (that are admittedly hard to find)

4) the PoD is here to keep discussion interesting/reasonable and not just a tar pit of name-calling

5) the other rules are in place to avoid breaking the laws where the server lives so the site doesn't get axed

6) most of your suggestions are already in place

7) moderators exist to maintain the Pyramid of Debate which is the model for conduct here

Your main complaint is about censorship--which is minimal here--yet you would like the power as OP to censor the voices you don't like.

Mods only remove posts that grossly violate the Pyramid of Debate. I doubt you would gain any insight reading those comments as they are typically just random slurs. People who harass and name call are given a wide berth before they are removed, which they are only when they persist relentlessly. Maybe you haven't found the block user button, the location of which I regularly forget. Maybe u/magnora7 or u/d3rr can point you to it.

Here is also a page you may have missed, as it also not very obvious: https://saidit.net/s/SaidIt/comments/37r/welcome_to_saiditnet/ It explains the way the site works and details the PoD.

It's great that you care about free speech of all varieties. Thank you also for providing suggestions where you've seen room for improvement.