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How can this not just be blocked / igonored?

Because harassers can just register a new account in 10 seconds (and frequently do).

Then there should be settings for you to not allow communication except from those in your friends circle.

I agree that there are ways around that, but there will always be ways around it. Pretending that filtering speech will make the harassment go away is pretty naive.

You already can make your account private to only your friends on most of these services. I guess giving up the attention isn't worth it for some of these people.

If your suggestion is "people who are the target of persistent harassment should remove themselves from public discussions", that seems at least as contrary to the ideal of free speech as removing the harassers.

I'm not really sure where you got that idea, I never said that.

EDIT: I see what you mean. I think there's a huge difference between temporarily choosing to not engage in public discussions, and being shut out of said discussion.

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