[deanCommie]

> "freedom of speech" that everyone in his generation grew up with, that served as the impetus for much of the internet's creation

Yes, because bulletin board systems famously had no moderation whatsoever.

Wait...

[hardnose]

I don't know how much you remember about the transition from BBSes to the internet, but the heavy handed moderation of FidoNet is one of the exact reasons we all flooded into UseNet when it started to become available, and most likely a big part of why "FidoNet" is consigned to history's dustbin despite being, at one time, the most popular forum discussion system.