Free speech is not a moral issue. It has nothing to do with morality. Really nothing is moral in any absolute sense, the idea itself is a contrivance. An appreciation of another's "morality" (contrivance) is an essential thing to learn however. That follows from other understandings, listed below.
Free speech ultimately is about survival, both for the individual and for society at large. The only path to a society that can function without infringement on another's rights is one that doesn't shut down the debate; that doesn't attempt to control the conversation at all (at least not by censorship of any variety).
Not only mustn't we control other's words, we must understand how others may attempt to control ours. That can only be accomplished if people see, and fully understand, how they have been controlled, which requires free speech.
In other words, any society is guaranteed to be a "ruled" society (which extends beyond just speech) if the people that make up that society are missing key pieces of information, to wit:
You are Sovereign over your Jurisdiction.
an understanding of what that Jurisdiction is
EVERYONE is equally Sovereign over their Jurisdiction
all actions have consequences
any infringement on another's Jurisdiction must have social consequences for society to function without rampant evil (though "evil" really, by definition, means "infringement on another's Jurisdiction," so that's kinda redundant).
These are the key pieces of information that everyone needs to know. Free speech, the ability to silence speech, really everything follows from a complete (in the individual sense and population wide sense) understanding of these things (or a lack thereof as the case may be).
For example, if you truly understand your own Sovereignty (and your Jurisdiction, which I didn't elaborate), you recognize that you are the ultimate judge of what is "true" (i.e. we are all critical thinkers). This realization helps to appreciate that you probably don't know what the whole truth is about any one particular thing (or anything at all really). It also helps you to appreciate that probably no one else does either. If no one else knows the whole truth, "trusting them" (in this sense) is foolish. Listening to what people have to say however, is wise. Thus, free speech is essential. It isn't what people say (no matter what they have to say), rather it is trust, and the ways we have been trained to trust that are the real problems. The way we have been trained to trust is by the removal of the pieces of information I have listed above from what we teach our children. We don't teach our children that because the Rulers want to rule us. Christianity (as most people understand the term today) played that "lack of information" role previously from it's beginnings around 325AD, Judaism before that, etc. Now we have "the experts" that fill that role (which is really just the New Boss, same as the Old Boss).
If we truly understand our own Sovereignty, and our Jurisdiction (otherwise known as "inalienable Rights") we are less susceptible on the individual level, and MUCH LESS susceptible on the societal level, to the ministrations of those who would create the institutions of "trust" that mislead us. In fact, such a society can't be overtaken because such institutions can't be built at all. It is from "authority" that "trust" (in this context) is created. In a world of Sovereigns, the Ultimate Authority is always You. And everyone knows it.
Free speech is not a moral issue. It has nothing to do with morality. Really nothing is moral in any absolute sense, the idea itself is a contrivance. An appreciation of another's "morality" (contrivance) is an essential thing to learn however. That follows from other understandings, listed below.
Free speech ultimately is about survival, both for the individual and for society at large. The only path to a society that can function without infringement on another's rights is one that doesn't shut down the debate; that doesn't attempt to control the conversation at all (at least not by censorship of any variety).
Not only mustn't we control other's words, we must understand how others may attempt to control ours. That can only be accomplished if people see, and fully understand, how they have been controlled, which requires free speech.
In other words, any society is guaranteed to be a "ruled" society (which extends beyond just speech) if the people that make up that society are missing key pieces of information, to wit:
These are the key pieces of information that everyone needs to know. Free speech, the ability to silence speech, really everything follows from a complete (in the individual sense and population wide sense) understanding of these things (or a lack thereof as the case may be).
For example, if you truly understand your own Sovereignty (and your Jurisdiction, which I didn't elaborate), you recognize that you are the ultimate judge of what is "true" (i.e. we are all critical thinkers). This realization helps to appreciate that you probably don't know what the whole truth is about any one particular thing (or anything at all really). It also helps you to appreciate that probably no one else does either. If no one else knows the whole truth, "trusting them" (in this sense) is foolish. Listening to what people have to say however, is wise. Thus, free speech is essential. It isn't what people say (no matter what they have to say), rather it is trust, and the ways we have been trained to trust that are the real problems. The way we have been trained to trust is by the removal of the pieces of information I have listed above from what we teach our children. We don't teach our children that because the Rulers want to rule us. Christianity (as most people understand the term today) played that "lack of information" role previously from it's beginnings around 325AD, Judaism before that, etc. Now we have "the experts" that fill that role (which is really just the New Boss, same as the Old Boss).
If we truly understand our own Sovereignty, and our Jurisdiction (otherwise known as "inalienable Rights") we are less susceptible on the individual level, and MUCH LESS susceptible on the societal level, to the ministrations of those who would create the institutions of "trust" that mislead us. In fact, such a society can't be overtaken because such institutions can't be built at all. It is from "authority" that "trust" (in this context) is created. In a world of Sovereigns, the Ultimate Authority is always You. And everyone knows it.