In the America of Eisenhower and J Edgar Hoover antivax propaganda would have been illegal (and probably linked to communism) and if people started refusing the vaccine the National Guard would go door to door and administrate it. There would have been no patience for that kind of noncompliance during an emergency. No true Scotsman (err patriotic American) would have opposed this.
I’m not saying we should go back there. I’m saying that we have more freedom of speech today than we did back then.
If you listen to the crowd signing this petition, they sound like this is some unprecedented era of repression which is ridiculous. In the US at least you can say almost anything and the worst that will happen is hate mail and getting booted off a private social platform. But you can just go elsewhere or host your own site and there’s not a lot people can do to stop you.
Saying that "I believe COVID was the result of a lab leak, here is my evidence" versus Saying "I believe COVID was the result of a lab leak, here is my evidence, and as a result we should [do something violent/illegal]"
See the difference? The former should _not_ be restricted under any circumstance, even if the "evidence" is bunk. Let the fact that the evidence is bunk sink the theory, not the moderators. The latter, on the other hand, contains a call to violence, so it should reasonably be restricted.
Of course, a privately owned platform like Twitter/X could say the former isn't allowed on their platform and they would be within their rights to restrict it. However if they restrict it because of pressure from the US government, that falls into a more precarious situation.
Of course the 1st amendment only applies to the government. Platforms can restrict anything they want with or without explanation. But the government can't pressure platforms to restrict things, that _does_ violate the 1st amendment, as the private company is then acting as a proxy for the government.