You can't even report on snowden revelations in the US without the government coming after you. I don't need to tell you to what lengths the US government went

You can't even report on snowden revelations in the US without the government coming after you. I don't need to tell you to what lengths the US government went going after Snowden himself. If you can't even exercise free speech where it really matters in regards to your democracy, you hardly have total freedom of speech. Also Snowden is hardly the only example of whistleblowers from within a branch of a democratic government speaking out. However the US is an extreme outlier in how it handled the matter. Another thing many western democracies manage to do without is an equivalent to the US's National Security Letters, which are also a form of the government policing speech where it might matter. So apparently you have to be afraid to speak out when it really matters, but at least you can deny the holocaust I guess.