Free speech fundamentally matters to our health, wellbeing, and democracy. Free speech is also inextricably linked to the enlightenment, a movement which dominated Europe during the 17th and 18th century, and was centred around the idea that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy. Freedom of speech grew from the enlightenment. England’s 1689 Bill of Rights granted freedom of speech in Parliament. Free speech promotes growth of knowledge and provides a bulwark against tyranny, holding the powerful to account. But restricting free speech to stop people being offended is wrong. …