To paraphrase:<p><i>Speaking freely is essential to democracy. The more restricted your conversations, the more careful you are about what you say. And being careful leads to less candor, less criticism, and less innovation. Thought and free speech are the breeding ground for new, sometimes controversial ideas. They are how we prototype, think new ideas through, refine them, and get them ready for wider distribution and discussion.</i><p>The actions of many 21st century activists seem to be diametrically opposed to this ethos and designed create a social landscape of civic censorship and extra-legal punishment for &quot;thoughtcrime.&quot; I think a society with laws supporting free speech on the books, but largely made of authoritarian and censorial organizations is no more democratic in spirit than the Jim Crow south was inclusive with its &quot;technically&quot; enfranchised non-white population. (It doesn&#x27;t so much matter what laws are on the books, if society at large thinks something opposed.)<p>For democracy to work, there needs to be freedom to dissent. I think many young people who grew up with web forums were exposed to so much draconian censorship, they&#x27;ve come to unconsciously feel that censorship is a key means of expressing power and &quot;justice.&quot; I just hope that enough of them work out how intellectually bankrupt such a society would be.