[dnomad]

> I can go on Facebook right now and post any opinion I like of my government.

No you can't. Facebook regularly censors content just like every other rational organization on the planet that hosts a forum. (Though it's a bit amusing to hear how free Americans think themselves to be when so many of them struggle to get basic healthcare.)

> The censorship demands made by China, for example, absolutely are of a different character and breadth than any made in the west.

You might consider that different cultures actually have different standards about what's acceptable speech. There are certainly other Asian countries which control speech much more rigorously than China ever could. Indeed, it seems China doesn't care so much about criticism until it becomes actionable (ie protests, terrorism). Anybody familiar with China would understand there's actually plenty of criticism of the government in a nation of a billion people. Compare this with regimes where insulting the royal family can land one in jail. Yet Google happily operates in these countries.

And of course, not ironic at all, here come the proud HN free-speech defenders eager to downvote the pesky facts they don't like.

[cageface]

I didn't downvote you but what you're saying is just trivially, factually untrue and you're conflating several different things. Healthcare in the US is a mess and the evils of US foreign policy are well documented but to claim that there is no significant difference between the degree of control that China and the US exert over the internet is just silly and not at all dependent on any pesky "facts".