> 2. Your statement that free speech is a right is an ethical claim, so maybe you should re-examine your dismissal of ethics. Thanks in advance for thinking it through.

I don't see this is contradictory, but I guess I'm having trouble clarifying my thoughts here. I'm not discussing whether or not to have free speech; that was indeed an ethical and moral decision... that got decided already. I don't see the point in discussing that because 1) it got decided 244 years ago and 2) it's enshrined in the constitution. If I disagreed, my only realistic option is to move to another country.

What I was discussing was that I'm against the idea of laypersons or the [non-judicial] branches of government using the guise of "ethics" or "morality" to arbitrarily silence people. I don't see how free speech could be "revered" or similar without making arbitrary conditions.