The incremental criminalization of speech that people in power want to silence should offend everyone. Almost by definition progress requires challenging an ide

The incremental criminalization of speech that people in power want to silence should offend everyone. Almost by definition progress requires challenging an idea that has been generally accepted by those in power with a new idea that is initially generally rejected by those in power. (I'm not saying that all new ideas are progress. Most new ideas are bad ideas. I'm saying that all progress requires a switchover to those few new ideas that turn out to be improvements.) If those in power, meaning those who can get someone punished, are allowed to establish mechanisms of silencing opinions they don't like by force, you will be limited to hearing ideas that are generally accepted by those with power. That would put a serious damper on progress, no matter who they were, and I'm not aware of any credible study that has concluded that in any situation of conflict between ideas, the ideas of the people with the power to silence their critics by force are usually the more correct. If you disagree with what someone says, explain why; don't look for mechanisms to silence them by force. And if someone else proposes a plan to criminalize "offensive" speech, oppose them and explain why.