[papito]

This sudden love of "freedom of speech" among billionaires really reeks of hypocrisy and authoritarianism. This usually comes from individuals who are used to doing and saying what they want, and suddenly being called out on being horrible. This is new to them, and they don't like it.

When they talk about "freedom" and "the people", it's ultimately about them.

First of all.

Second of all, the Internet - at least in the US - never had this newly-discovered freedom of speech problem. Even in the early days, when we hung out on compartmentalized HTML discussion boards, the admins would bring down the hammer on idiots and trolls with no mercy, and no one complained. The place was much more civilized.