This happened twice, in two different communities now.
The attached here screenshot shows 3 comments deleted for posting an opposing viewpoints, none of which have any insults. I was told my comment (and apparent ban) was due to violation of rule 1 - don’t be a jerk. My comment had no insults or name-calling, only stating what I believe, and this result in a removal and ban without any further conversation. EDIT: to point out this first instance occurred within the Ask Lemmy community, and another person noticed this and posted about it - if it doesn’t get removed it’s here: https://lemmy.world/comment/7831856
The second time it happened (I will post links and screenshot in comment), I did not realize until today. Someone replied to my comment, and I tried to reply back, but could not - then went to check my original comment, which was removed, and I had been apparently banned - both the removal and ban were without any notice given to me either.
While clearly people disagree with my opinions above, I do not believe there was cause for removal and banning in either case. Both these actions are more indicative of attempts to outright remove certain viewpoints than to promote respectful discussion.
I look at it this way, I’m not here to win a popularity contest and if what I say riles people up, GOOD. It means I’ve said something truthful, and people are staggering around from the impact of it. Of course they threaten to ban me which just makes me feel like I’ve done the right thing by posting what I posted.