Does free speech come with a side of irony?

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2. People make too much of the "problems" with free speech and technology,

and not enough of the problems of corruption.

Any political system tends toward corruption and eventually collapse as a result. Therefore any political system just constantly fight against corruption to avoid that fate.

America has largely stood by as money became more and more important in politics; as journalism stopped being an arbiter of reason and fact; as businesses stopped valuing the social good; as some in the Supreme Court decided they were simply 9 people who could vote however they wanted and write any excuse they wanted (or not even both); as the republicans decided all that matters was a big return on investment for their biggest donors, throwing red meat to their rank and file, and extending their own power; etc.

Free speech and technology didn't make any of this inevitable, it's merely the road corruption traveled on. But had our attitude toward free speech and our technology been something else, corruption would simply have taken a different route.

Note that the idea of free speech has been corrupted as well. Right-wingers now believe it entitled them to zero consequences for their speech, and it entitles them to be offended by opposing speech.