It is depressingly unsurprising how many people who ostensibly espouse "Free speech as an ideal right" are discovered to mean "Wait not like that" when the speech violates their other core beliefs.
No talk of politics.
I've been on it from near the start. I really can't understand how you got the idea that it was anything more than a roll-your-own-Twitter from the outset. His own feed is 99% cats. If he's especially focused on politics, it doesn't show.
Yes, but didn't we used to be in favor of free speech as an abstract dignity of humans?
I used to think of it that way, but nowadays I think of it more as a good principle to underpin effective government. For starters, lots of governments have a different comprehension of it than mine does and they do well.
It's the same principle as "your right to swing your fist ends where my face begins," and it used to be commonly understood as a necessary, fundamental building block of civil society.
Unfortunately we seem to have somehow spontaneously forgotten this and now, if anyone doesn't simply accept a punch to the the face they're infringing on your rights.
You're redefining free speech. Free speech is freedom to speak without fear of consequences from your government.
What you're asking for is freedom to speak without consequences from your fellow citizens and your standing in the social community. That's never been how humans have worked, ever. And I doubt even you would want to live in a world where you could not ignore, walk away from, remove from your property, mock, or shout down speech you disagreed with.