Lichess's Hidden Political Censorship

A few days ago, in the US, a public figure, Charlie Kirk, was publicly assassinated during his speech at the university.

Lichess is a very popular chess platform that also has a Forum. The forum has the "Off-Topic Discussion" section. Shortly after the assassination, the thread "Charlie Kirk was shot" appeared there.
https://lichess.org/forum/off-topic-discussion/charlie-kirk-was-shot?page=1

It began so:


"I checked the news, and there was the report on Charlie Kirk getting shot at Utah university." (...) #1


That thread quickly became popular. I wrote post number 65:


"There was freedom of speech in the Soviet Union. If you had an opinion, you could speak up. But you weren't allowed near the microphone.

There is freedom of speech in the United States. If you have an opinion, you can speak up. But you'll die with the microphone in your hand." #65


Lichess shows me that my comment is published. I have received no notification that it has not been published. There is no place on Lichess where I can see that my account is restricted (if it is).

However, the next comment also has the number 65.

If I look at Lichess in another browser, where I am not logged in to Lichess, then I see that my post is not visible to others. The others are even unaware that I have posted something. And I am unaware that my comment is invisible.

Therefore, I would like to add:


"There is freedom of speech on the chess platform Lichess. If you have an opinion, you can speak up. But you do not know that your microphone has been switched off."


I do not recommend using such chess platforms as Lichess, because they are the enemies of free speech and they hypocritically pretend to promote free speech.

Their censorship is often hidden and ideologically-politically motivated. At the same time, very nasty comments are not censored, not taken down.

One should also refrain from making donations to Lichess, as donating to Lichess effectively supports the enemies of freedom.

I have completely abandoned ChessCOM and I will never donate to Lichess.

***

For the full text with screenshots, see my blog post
https://chessmaletaja.blogspot.com/2025/09/lichesss-hidden-political-censorship.html

I might've played one opening move on there. They have links to invite games that seem cool.

Maybe some rugby lovers (cat toy variant) would like to play: https://lichess.org/E9gsU6Ck

@Nanomaster said
A few days ago, in the US, a public figure, Charlie Kirk, was publicly assassinated during his speech at the university.

Lichess is a very popular chess platform that also has a Forum. The forum has the "Off-Topic Discussion" section. Shortly after the assassination, the thread "Charlie Kirk was shot" appeared there.
https://lichess.org/forum/off-topic-discussion/char ...[text shortened]... e my blog post
https://chessmaletaja.blogspot.com/2025/09/lichesss-hidden-political-censorship.html

@Nanomaster said
"There was freedom of speech in the Soviet Union. If you had an opinion, you could speak up. But you weren't allowed near the microphone."

@Nanomaster said
A few days ago, in the US, a public figure, Charlie Kirk, was publicly assassinated during his speech at the university.

Lichess is a very popular chess platform that also has a Forum. The forum has the "Off-Topic Discussion" section. Shortly after the assassination, the thread "Charlie Kirk was shot" appeared there.
https://lichess.org/forum/off-topic-discussion/char ...[text shortened]... e my blog post
https://chessmaletaja.blogspot.com/2025/09/lichesss-hidden-political-censorship.html

@sonhouse said
I play bullet there all the time and the puzzles but where do you find the forums?
What is your Phd about? Nanotech I guess. My daughter is working on her Phd in music, her husband is a statistical physicist, they live in Natal brazil, teach their subjects at Federal University there, he has over 100 papers. I gave him ONE🙂 Well, 2 counting some work I did on calculating inductance.

@Arkturos said
I don't think the Soviet Union treated its poets and writers so gently.

@Arkturos said
"Do not rant. Ranting is defined here as a style of post that comes across as a political broadcast or an angry protest that does little to progress the discussion or to involve other posters. Such postings often feel like an intrusion into the general debate, regardless of the validity of the points being made."

@Nanomaster said
LICHESS -> COMMUNITY -> FORUM

Your interpretation of my username is wrong. Moreover, it is an argumentum ad hominem. You had nothing to say except your attempt to slander the messenger. You do not qualify for any civilised discussion.

So far, only one commenter has addressed the content of my original post. It was Arkturos who said:

"I don't think the Soviet Union treated its poets and writers so gently."

Now, the problem is obvious.

If one says, "There is freedom of speech in Europe," it is clear that one does not intend to imply that there was freedom of speech, for instance, at the time of the Inquisition.

Analogously, if I say that in the Soviet Union, one could say what one wanted, but if the thoughts were "improper", one simply did not get the microphone - it should also be clear that I did not mean to say it about the era of Lenin or Stalin.

Therefore, the only commenter who addressed the content of my original post, arbitrarily and perhaps intentionally, has applied the principle of malevolent interpretation, rather than attempting to engage in functional reading.

It should be evident that I did not mean to say that there have been no repressions in the Soviet Union.

In sum, not a single commenter has had anything substantial to say.

There have been only attacks against the author of the original post; threatening with a vague description of the post as violating the rules; and arbitrary ascriptions of such views that have not been written or meant in the original post.

@Nanomaster said
So far, only one commenter has addressed the content of my original post. It was Arkturos who said:

"I don't think the Soviet Union treated its poets and writers so gently."

Now, the problem is obvious.

If one says, "There is freedom of speech in Europe," it is clear that one does not intend to imply that there was freedom of speech, for instance, at the ti ...[text shortened]... s; and arbitrary ascriptions of such views that have not been written or meant in the original post.

@Nanomaster said
So far, only one commenter has addressed the content of my original post. It was Arkturos who said:

"I don't think the Soviet Union treated its poets and writers so gently."

Now, the problem is obvious.

If one says, "There is freedom of speech in Europe," it is clear that one does not intend to imply that there was freedom of speech, for instance, at the ti ...[text shortened]... s; and arbitrary ascriptions of such views that have not been written or meant in the original post.

@Suzianne said
Apparently someone could be advised to get over themselves.