Get used to it. Free speech is gone.
“Get used to it. Free speech is gone”
Free speech still exists. What has changed is access to private sector communications platforms is becoming more restricted by the operators, and the organized left is putting pressure on companies and organizations to ostracize people exercising speech the left doesn’t like.
This behavior is not new, it is just now occurring at a more obvious and rapid pace. Fifty years ago if you had a problem with a local business and wanted to buy an ad in the monopoly local newspaper to inform the public of the problem, the paper would likely not have accepted your ad. Or if you wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper criticizing a politician the paper endorsed, it likely would not be printed. When my grandparents were young, in the rural south, it was suicide in the community to publicly criticize the local sheriff. A black man who spoke out against segregation would lose his employment and not be able to find work. In the 1960’s fire hoses and dogs were turned on peaceful protestors. Lincoln stifled free speech and the press during the civil war. The exercise of free speech has been restricted and stifled through intimidation throughout US history.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the primary replacements for the town’s monopoly newspapers of decades ago. They are private businesses, free to accept or decline service. Employers are free to hire and fire you based on your public behavior.
You are free to speak. You can stand on your own property and say anything you wish. You can get a permit and march on a public street saying whatever you wish and the government cannot stop you. The government cannot deny you public services, or access to public places, based on your exercise of free speech. However private individuals can take action against you. Employers can fire you for speaking out or choose not to hire you. Your neighbor can shun you. The country club can deny you membership. A plumber can refuse to perform services for you.
Free speech is not absolute. If you slander someone who is not a public figure with falsehoods they can sue you for libel. If you say something in the public sector which may cause others harm you may be prosecuted for inciting violence. In other words you can say “Joe Biden is a corrupt politician” all day long without government taking action. However, if you yell at an armed mob, “Let’s go down to city hall, burn it down, and string up the mayor”, you may be arrested and charged with a crime.
As to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube if they censor you, or shut you down, you can move to an alternative platform or start your own. If your employer fires you for a Twitter post or appearing at a political event, you can apply for a job somewhere else or start your own business.
Free speech has not ended. However there are sometimes repercussions from speaking out. There always have been and always will be.