The problem with free speech is that most of us don’t really want it — not for everyone, just ourselves and those who agree with us. Let’s be honest, can you really say that you want everyone to have the freedom to say whatever they think? Don’t we tend to listen to those who espouse views consistent with our own, and wish those with opposing views would not be allowed to speak? So even those who are the staunchest supporters of free speech, in my opinion, have times when they wish certain ideas could not be expressed.
The second problem with free speech is that it is not free. Free speech costs all of us. It requires a willingness to allow anyone to say things that are repugnant, horrific and inhuman. It requires a commitment to allowing words to be said that should never be said. Free speech requires each of us to bear the emotional pain that accompanies thoughts and ideas that demean us and all humanity. To allow free speech is to allow ideas which generate in us the greatest anger to exist next to those ideas that bring us the greatest peace and hope. So free speech is not free.
Now of course there is no absolute free speech. You cannot shout “fire” in a theater if there is no fire. And you cannot make claims against another person that are not true (unless you want to be sued for libel or slander). And you cannot make false claims about a product unless you want to be charged with fraud. And there are other things you cannot do under the guise of free speech. So free speech does have limits, but if you support the concept of free speech, you cannot demand that ideas abhorrent to you be suppressed.