The tools that are needed here would provide the ability for each of us to screen out whatever we don't care to see, whether it be racist speech or just people that won't shut up about crossfit.
And since it's just me controlling my filter, I could easily adjust the level of filtering. Sometimes it's useful to know what people outside my Overton Window are talking about.
Let's say some leader decides to build a thousand new coal power plants, and the people want him lynched for destroying the climate. Filtering that hatred out is not a clear positive.
For example: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ted-cruz-wife...
This is a much better approach than going online and screaming vulgarity, because this prevents them from enjoying their actual life. If your opponent is genuinely doing something wrong, you want to make them miserable. You don't want to Be Mad Online at them.
Edit: The above poster edited this after I had replied, and everything after the first question mark my comment isn't responding to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
If it starts earlier, the violence can be avoided.
The deaths of the ruling class were unfortunate, but didn't necessarily outweigh the benefits.
A modern version of the French Revolution is far more desirable than allowing the planet to be made uninhabitable by the actions of the ruling class, for example.
The French revolution resulted in years of oppression before things shook out for the better. The Articles of Confederation were imperfect but were not an oppressive government.
Citation for an improved standard of living due to napoleon's code is needed.
It has been widely-argued that the American Revolution was an influence on the French: https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-american-revolution...
Finally, I doubt the planet will be uninhabitable. Perhaps harsher or more difficult, but definitely not uninhabitable. Humans are profoundly-adaptable creatures.
Those who want to know the stories around the coal plants can allow them through
Those who choose to avoid the more violent parts can choose to not see them
The consequences of and responsibility for seeing/not seeing any topic becomes a personal choice, not one of any corporation or central authority. I see this as a very big positive step.
You say you'll use it to peek outside of your bubble, but I suspect most people would use it to reinforce their bubbles by filtering any speech that is inconvenient or uncomfortable.
Instead, we need to end isolationism and the siloing of audiences. We should be forced to interact with people we have ideological disagreements with so, at the very least, we don't dehumanize them (note that I'm not calling for tolerance of intolerance, and I believe voices of division should be deplatformed).
So letting people live in their bubbles might soften their conviction and keep them open to opposing ideas when they finally encounter them.
> Sometimes it's useful to know what people outside my Overton Window are talking about.
People don't have a personal Overton window: The Overton window describe's society's range of acceptable opinions.
And I guarantee that the vast majority of extremists - or even people already on the fringes - are not interested in reading or hearing about the opposition.
Who determines what is an "extremist opinion"?
I define it (for the purposes of this conversation) as an opinion that its holders buy into so much that they outright refuse to acknowledge anything in opposition. After-all, if you believe you've bought-in to "the truth" (and lack critical-thinking skills, and/or have been propagandized to this point anyway) then it has to be an extreme position (by whatever the standards of the contemporary Overton window apply) because otherwise it wouldn't be necessary to propagandize or rile similarly-minded people against your opposition.
Try posting one-sided political content on Facebook and watch your friends on the opposing side unfollow...they're not obliged to listen to your speech. Or on Reddit look at /r/politics vs /r/The_Donald (left vs right echo chambers).
I never understood the culture of censoring your opponents, it just seems intellectually weak.