>If people behaved the way they do on these boards they would quickly be ostracized by society if not having the shit beaten out of them on a regular basis.

If people talked in public the way they do on those boards there might be consequences.

But if people behaved the way they do, they'd probably be voted into office.

We've just had the British Prime Minister give one of the most offensive and hate-filled conference speeches a lot of people have ever seen. His administration is full of people who are questionably sane.

The Chancellor has turned up in Parliament looking like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBtXxYrp7mo

Cameron's colleagues have been directly implicated in starving dying people - some of whom can't walk or speak - to death by claiming they're "able to work" and so shouldn't receive any state aid.

You want physical harm? We've got as much of it as you can bear to read about.

So really, hate speech on Reddit is a non-issue compared to what goes on in supposedly serious politics.

And did I mention the Internet censorship and surveillance? Because we have that too.

In reality free speech isn't a panacea. There are too many crazy people in politics all over the world, and free speech on Reddit or elsewhere has done nothing to keep them out of power.

It's not the basement-dwelling sociopaths with twitchy keyboards you need to worry about - it's the professionals.