352 - How Important is Freedom of Speech?

In 1722, under the name Silence Dogood, Benjamin Franklin wrote:

“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech;"

Why is freedom of speech so important? As Mr. Franklin stated, there is public liberty without it, but what does that mean. Yes, without freedom of speech people cannot express themselves, but there’s more. Without freedom of speech we would never be exposed to contradictory ideas, and we would never grow. The basis of the scientific method is the testing of contradictory ideas. If freedom of speech is so important, why do people keep tying to shut it down? Take New York State’s “Online Hate Speech Law”. Why is the State of New York attempting to get social media networks to act as government censors for them?