Freedom of speech has always been a contentious issue for ages and at the moment. Some people or governing bodies feel it's not good for everyone to have his her say freely. This is because they believe someone can say what could cause trouble or propagate falsehood or disclose an information that many people shouldn't know.
Because of the above some governments muzzle peoples' speech, and would want to disseminate only information they believe people would want to hear or at least, what would not bring discontentment among the populace.
But from experience, it has been seen that hiding information from people is a temporary solution. This is because Truth is stubborn, and would always have a way of coming to light.
Due to the fact that the truth cannot be hidden for too long, people coined the phrase which suggests, you cannot bury smoke under the ground.
The worst aspect of hiding information from the people is that in could leak out as rumour, and may not be the true representation of the situation. This could be more devastating than the real information itself.
It's the fear of half-baked truth that made another school of thought to speak against controlled information, and instead prefer openness for everyone to see things for themselves, and say their minds. This is what gave rise to freedom of speech, and made it popular.
Freedom of speech is a better option because, in spite of its shortcomings, (it is subject to abuse), it gives room for corrections to be made in a case where someone is wrong.
You know, if we suppress people's voice, it gives room for murmuring, which may create images in the brain that could be launched in an unsuspecting manner. Preventing people from saying their minds could lead to anger and frustration that could make matters worse.
Personally, I support freedom of speech but, that does not mean we should be careless or thoughtless in what we say. Sometimes though, we might think we're right, not knowing we're wrong. This is why I advise that when we're in doubt, we should confide in a close friend or brother who would reason with us. This advice is based on the premise that two heads are better than one. In addition, it is said that iron sharpens iron.