>> What good is freedom of speech if you’re not allowed to publicly assemble because of COVID and social media is cut off from you?
From the article:
The First Amendment limits the government’s ability to regulate speech. It
does not require news organizations to treat all speech as equal, or to
provide an open forum for comments. Rather, the First Amendment ensures The
Inquirer’s right to publish what The Inquirer chooses to publish.
Freedom of speech is necessary in a democratic society in order for citizens to be able to criticise their government freely. It is not meant to protect any (non-existent) right to verbally attack one's fellow citizens with impunity. Indeed, most modern nations that have legislation that protects freedom of speech also have legislation that protects their citizens from defamatory, or libellous speech, and many also protect individuals from hateful speech that targets personal characteristics like sexuality or religion.
tl;dr, freedom of speech sets you free to punch up, not to punch down.
From the article:
The First Amendment limits the government’s ability to regulate speech. It does not require news organizations to treat all speech as equal, or to provide an open forum for comments. Rather, the First Amendment ensures The Inquirer’s right to publish what The Inquirer chooses to publish.
Freedom of speech is necessary in a democratic society in order for citizens to be able to criticise their government freely. It is not meant to protect any (non-existent) right to verbally attack one's fellow citizens with impunity. Indeed, most modern nations that have legislation that protects freedom of speech also have legislation that protects their citizens from defamatory, or libellous speech, and many also protect individuals from hateful speech that targets personal characteristics like sexuality or religion.
tl;dr, freedom of speech sets you free to punch up, not to punch down.