Discussions regarding "free speech" on social media tend to be very simplistic and often ignore psychology, sociology, linguistics, psychological manipulation, lies, propaganda, trust towards authorities, science of communication and interpersonal relationships (and power dynamics in interpersonal relationships). Many people on social media are either "pro-free speech" or "pro-censorship" as if those positions were some sort of sports teams that one must always cheer on, often ignoring the nuances and deeper implications (not to mention, there is a lot of hypocrisy and bad arguments regarding that topic, on both "sides"). This page will explore the concept of "free speech" more in-depth.
Two main positions:
1: pro-free speech
2: pro-censorship
More nuanced positions:
1: Isomorphic free speech: a situation of "free speech" (except the usual suspects e.g. slander, death threats, doxxing etc.) that is the same everywhere and in every situation.
2: Sandboxed free speech: kinda like when you try to use a bike indoors in Pokemon games. "There's a time and place for everything". That means, depending on the place and situation, what can be said varies. However, there's no top-down censorship superstructure.
2.1: Geo-sandboxed free speech: what can and cannot be said varies depending on the location (e.g. a Christian church may not allow pro-Satan speeches).
2.2: Socio-sandboxed free speech: what can and cannot be said varies depending on the situation and social context.
2.3: Holistic(?) sandboxed free speech: there's a time and place for everything, but for each speech, there exists at least one place such as that speech is allowed.
2.4: Non-holistic(?) sandboxed free speech: there may be at least one speech for which there exists no place such as that speech is allowed.
3: Isomorphic non-free speech (moderate censorship): a situation of moderate censorship that is the same everywhere and in every situation.
4: Sandboxed non-free speech (moderate censorship): mostly the same as 2.x but with moderate censorship.
5: Isomorphic/sandboxed non-free speech (high/extreme censorship): if you read the explanations above, this will be pretty self-explanatory.
Many discussions regarding "free speech" often focus on the rights of the speaker. But what rights does the listener have? (coming soon)
Real life and social media are structured in different manners.