Is the cost of "free"speech that the truth is now worth nothing?

("State Dept. cancels Facebook meetings after judge's 'censorship' ruling")

The price of free speech just became exorbitant.

Now, yelling "fire" in the theater must be deemed protected.

If lives can be lost when untruths are allowed to roam unchecked and unchallenged about matters such as the effectiveness of vaccines, if the government must hold its tongue no matter the cost to those it is sworn to protect, then where is the line in the sand that can no longer be crossed?

We speak of the First Amendment with reverence, that it serves all the people, not merely those who agree with us, not merely the voices we find pleasing. And there is great power in this. But with that power must come reason. For without reason, all that remains is chaos. Without reason, the inmates have the keys to the asylum. 

Yes, care must be taken not to abuse one's station, as Mr. Trump has long done in trying to shut up and shut down those who challenge his mountain of falsehoods. A democracy cannot be used as a battering ram to settle personal grievances. But it can and must be permitted to question, to hold the light up to those who abuse the privilege of the First Amendment, who do not advance our cause with their words but rather place us in needless, thoughtless, pointless jeopardy.

The cost of freedom is very high. But it cannot, and must not, ever become so high that it makes the truth worth nothing.