[NovemberWhiskey]

>The concept of free speech has nothing to do with governments or private institutions.

But the manner in which governments can affect free speech is very much broader, because they can criminalize and regulate it in a way that is generally binding on all societal participants.

Saying that free speech has nothing to do with governments is like saying making contracts is nothing to do with governments: except that the government includes the judicial branch that decides disputes over contracts.

[lki876]

> Saying that free speech has nothing to do with governments is like saying making contracts is nothing to do with governments

The concept has absolutely nothing to do with governments. If you were the only person in the world living alone on an island, the concept would still exist.

That some entity deals with the concept, or doesn't, does not change this.