Didn't YouTube (and many others) make it clear that they're plenty willing to work with government officials to censor free speech that the officials don't like

Didn't YouTube (and many others) make it clear that they're plenty willing to work with government officials to censor free speech that the officials don't like? Don't get me wrong, YouTube is well within its rights to decide what content they do and don't want to host and distribute. Its clear that these companies are, in fact, for profit businesses though. They aren't going to stand behind free speech and wouldn't even touch the idea of "absolute free speech" which is itself a confusing and misunderstood argument that we can somehow have free speech with limitations. At best, YouTube will inconsistently protect free speech in some areas and censor it in others. The only real answer is for users to go elsewhere, ideally to something they themselves control, if they want to avoid most risks of censorship.