I used to hang on a very large and very old doctor who site, before it got bought out and shut down by the BBC as they made their own version of it. I've been a fan long before the new series. The mods there did something drastic, and it was for the best. Basically, when things come down to it, they realised that the site is a FAN site designed for people to come together and ENJOY a fandom.
So when the new series started, they actually locked and minor banned people that spoke too harsh and spat vitriol all over the place, as you know a lot of oldWho's hated the new series. As the entire site was taken over by hate threads and constant bitching and moaning.
There was crying and moaning about the new rules .. oh my "freedoms" and all that total bullshit.... but you know what actually happened? The entire place became fun to hang out on again, and all those toxic fans that had nothing good to say just fucked off and left. The entire vibe of the site improved, and it again became a positive place for people that loved doctor who to hang out and share that love.
Much of the internet, particularly social media, thrives on "engagement" and nothing is more engaging than hate and the defence against hate. It has trained many people to be outspoken and vicious in their comments. The mods realised that what they needed to cultivate was a safe space for fans... not a place where new fans would come and see 30 threads and a shoutbox full of negativity and bile.
In short, fuck your "freedoms". If you hate the games, fine, hate them.... but there is no need and nothing productive abut spewing hate 24/7 when others just want things to be about other stuff. Take that shit to twitter or discord and other toxic places. Let the site breath and be a place people and new users can come to see people that enjoy things. And you know what, plenty of people do. Pissing off a few people that provide nothing but bile and them fucking off it a good thing for everyone. It isn't about "policing opinions" it is about creating an environment that is conducive to fandom. The super cool thing is that all those "hey, I should be able to be a cunt if I want" type people just disappeared and the site became awesome again. Pissing off a tiny few people, improved things for everyone else as they bring nothing to the site anyway. They were dead weight.
Deleting or locking that thread was the correct thing to do, and it should have been done months ago. Robo was correct, it was, and I mean it was in actuality, cancerous to this community.