It's something that's far easier to take away than it is to stand for and defend. That's why it being enshrined in constitutions and a strong legal culture of defending it is so important.

Short-term thinking and people missing the forest for the trees after some emotional event is far too common for it to be trusted in the hands of the average politician.

this is because free speech on the internet is a powerful tool and it is abused by non-european nation states to influence european voters. smart dictators understand this and firewalled themselves off ages ago, resulting in asymmetry of freedom of speech == capability to influence masses.