Feel free to start your own community with a hands off approach. :)
We have 1.1 million subscribers in an active and default subreddit. Related and private subreddits are growing too to meet the random niche demands of some of our users, and that's a great thing. Our users have options if they don't like our moderation style.
Great attitude, and don't let assholes convince you that responsible moderation is ever a bad thing. The "freedom of speech" thing is just another trolling approach. Someone has a right to say anything they want, but they don't have a right to say it anywhere they want. If you and your participants have built a community and a culture that is inclusive and respectful, anyone choosing not to participate within those guidelines is opting themselves out of your community.
And, it's worth nothing that HN is a moderated community, and while there are people who find that problematic, the reality is that a significant portion of the best contributors here wouldn't stick around if it were not reasonably moderated. I believe that's true of communities in general, but particularly communities that are controversial (I'm a mod at /r/occupywallstreet; I've seen some shit).
We have 1.1 million subscribers in an active and default subreddit. Related and private subreddits are growing too to meet the random niche demands of some of our users, and that's a great thing. Our users have options if they don't like our moderation style.