Probably a lot of toxicity would be removed if it were harder for people to comment. You wouldn't have to raise the bar very high, I think, to convince people

Probably a lot of toxicity would be removed if it were harder for people to comment. You wouldn't have to raise the bar very high, I think, to convince people that it's not worth the trouble to write a few hurtful words. For example, maybe follow-up comments to material require completion of a tiny survey (like 2 questions) from the submitter, that must be answered 100% correctly to “prove” that a visitor at least read the material and understood it enough to comment. And for people too lazy for that, have an alternative like “or, to post this comment, 45 cents will be deducted from your account”.