Do you ever practice self-censorship out of fear of eliciting an unfavorable response?

I spent last weekend in the company of my Catholic and mostly conservative extended family. Some controversial subjects came up in discussion and while I was happy to listen to my uncles wax on about their views on abortion and the merits of a Trump presidency, I dared not express my own views, because (a) I didn’t want to stir the pot and (b) I honestly don’t know these people very well and am not sure whether they would hold my opinions against me or take them in stride. So I bit my tongue and waited for the subject to change.

But I am reluctant to express some of my unorthodox opinions even anonymously on the internet, where I am removed from the tangible consequences of my words, and risk nothing by speaking up. I hold certain views that many people find unpalatable and even extreme, and I have been ridiculed (sometimes brutally) for speaking openly about them in the past. So now I keep them to myself.

Do you have alienating views that you are afraid to talk openly about? Has fear of ridicule from strangers ever stopped you from speaking up about your beliefs? Do you stay quiet while your relatives run their mouths off because you don’t want to start a conflict? Have you ever held your tongue for one of these reasons and regretted it later on?