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When people cry free speech they are invoking the US constitution. They fail to recognize it only pertains to the government.
Freedom of speech is an ideal before it is a law. Even if we lived in a utopian classless society without a government we could still have the concept that everyone deserves the right to say what they wish.
If it can exist without the government then logically it cannot strictly refer to the government.
From your peers. For example if I say I am an atheist in a group of religious people and they kill me because of it - I don’t have freedom of speech.
You cannot claim this on behalf of other people. I myself sometimes refer to lax moderation rules as “free speech focused” moderation. It has nothing to do with the government.
That isn’t to say that some, or even many, people don’t use the phrase assuming that it is their constitutionally protected right to spread vitriol on the internet. But to imply that this is the only common meaning is disingenuous.
Free speech is the freedom to speak about the government. That’s all it is. That’s it. If a company practices free speech all they’re doing is exercising thier freedom to criticize the government. Same with an individual.
There is no other form of free speech. It exists solely to counter the government.
You don’t police the English language. I don’t know what else to tell you.
One phrase can refer to multiple things; “free speech” often refers to the ability to say whatever you like* without repurcussions from an authoritative figure, be that the government, Elon Musk’s cronies, or Lemmy moderators. Obviously it is not a constitutionally protected right in the latter contexts, but then again the phrase wasn’t “right to free speech.”
