What is most astounding about this whole thing is that a so called top award-winning 'journalist' didn't know the bio of the head of state.

But PLEASE consider - when we talk about free speech we keep speaking like we were raised under the US Constitution. Our legal model is very different.

MOST IMPORTANTLY when Americans discuss free speech they inherently mean the doctrine of prior restraint (look it up). In summary, there is no prior restraint on any speech act in the US. However, you are liable for the consequences of your speech act and that is why there is hate speech and discrimination protections for speech that is considered to have caused harm. We should get this in context. It is not speaking without any consequence.