[goodpass]

European countries don’t typically have American-style free speech, no. People can and do get punished with fines and jail time in England for “insulting” various religions, for example. But this isn’t news to legal scholars or historians.. For all of America’s faults, free speech is one thing we do pretty well.

[OskarS]

It's true that US free speech is generally more expansive than European free speech (though that's not universally true: Sweden's freedom of the press laws are more expansive than the US's, for instance), but it's important to note that it is in no way an absolute right even in the US. There are "time, place and manner" restrictions on free speech in the US (yelling fire in a crowded theatre, having to get permits for public protests, etc.) and there are whole categories of speech that are outlawed fully (like libel, slander and intimidation).

European countries draw a slightly different line than the US does (for instance including hate speech in the list of banned speech), but it's a difference in degree, not in kind.