> Your first paragraph makes clear why freedom of the press is necessary.
Like I said in my other post: the claim that they "covered it up for months" is nonsense.
I get that freedom of speech is an important value to you, but this is a strawman argument to try to support the ideal of freedom of speech, while completely ignoring the reality. The US has had 2 months to prepare for COVID-19, and what happened in the US even though you had freedom of speech? Cover-ups, or -- a more charitable interpretation -- incompetence in information sharing.
Free speech is an important value. But don't pretend like it's some kind of panacea. You will do the ideal of freedom of speech much more justice by recognizing its limitations, because only then can you truly leverage its benefits while mitigating its weaknesses. Anything else is like driving with your eyes closed and thinking "I'll be fine".
Like I said in my other post: the claim that they "covered it up for months" is nonsense.
I get that freedom of speech is an important value to you, but this is a strawman argument to try to support the ideal of freedom of speech, while completely ignoring the reality. The US has had 2 months to prepare for COVID-19, and what happened in the US even though you had freedom of speech? Cover-ups, or -- a more charitable interpretation -- incompetence in information sharing.
Free speech is an important value. But don't pretend like it's some kind of panacea. You will do the ideal of freedom of speech much more justice by recognizing its limitations, because only then can you truly leverage its benefits while mitigating its weaknesses. Anything else is like driving with your eyes closed and thinking "I'll be fine".