heeelllppp how do I get back on matrix? element.io says 'user ID taken' for rhiaro, but a search for @rhiaro:matrix.org doesn't find that user. Plus no email address I might have used seems to be available for a password reset. I last used matrix in like 2012-13 when it was, I believe, quite different to now. Any ideas?
Bigots have deliberately distorted "free speech" into "entitlement to a platform." Don't give into that frame. They are not entitled to your company, they are not entitled to your platform, they are not entitled to the respectability and legitimacy you provide them by letting their actions slide because "freeze peach! 🍑 ❄️ ". They are just entitled shits and if you want to treat them like normal members of community then well, that's on you.
Disallowing hate speech on your platform does not detract from bigots' freedom of speech. Not one whit. They can keep spewing their miserable hateful bile all they like, they just don't get to spew it on you. No, deplatforming is a freedom of association issue and the question becomes, why do you choose to exercise your freedom to associate with bigots? Why are you so dead set on providing them with a platform?