Some of the people I work with day to day don't legally exist.
They're born into impoverished refugee and displaced communities jammed along both sides of the Thai-Burmese border. It remains one of the most land-mined borders in the world. Because the births of these ethnic minority Karen people are not registered by any internationally recognized country or entity, they have no formal identity, papers or passport. They are politely called IDPs (internally displaced people), undocumented or stateless. Which means they can never legally travel, drive, own land or a vehicle, graduate from a school, open a bank account or do a myriad of other things we think are "normal". They can't even have legal phone numbers anymore in Thailand, where a government identification number is now required along with registration of a sim card. They can't post a parcel, cos (you guessed it) they need a legal identity to do that in Thailand.
They ARE allowed to work in Thai factories and on construction sites, as long as their employers register and pay for that privilege; they must be paid less than the Thai minimum wage and remain confined within the specific location their employment places them in. They do the jobs Thai people don't want to do. They may not own a telephone nor a vehicle
My Thai company Pure Thai Natural Co Ltd IS legally allowed to buy herbs from indigenous mountain people, in Thailand, individually, to a defined monetary limit. But the stories of the Karen ethnic minority people (and the Shan people, the Rohingya people, the Kachin people, the Rahkine people and countless other indigenous tribes) are heavily stage managed and censored for the outside world.
Free speech MATTERS when we bear the responsibility to tell the story of undocumented people which may cloud or challenge the carefully stage-managed political narrative.
Many of the herbs I buy and use from these mountain people also have phenomenal healing properties. But I may not specifically SAY that or make claims of that nature without censure online. In my herbal world, free speech can be life saving.
Just yesterday, I had a consult with a friend who has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of both the pancreas and the liver. His registered Thai doctor, in addition to putting him on emergency chemotherpay, has also prescribed CBD oil, reishi mushroom, ginseng and a chinese herb-substance named cordyceps. My friend suggested making a series of youtube videos to talk about his cancer healing journey - to both document his journey and inspire others. I had to suggest that he consider #hive, 
At the beginning of the #Covid-19 debacle, I already wrote a #Hive post about mainstream social media censoring what is allowed to be sold through facebook marketplace et al. You can read that here: Natural Medicine Censorship in a Post CoronaVirus World.
It's INSANE that when one half of the world lacks face masks and sanitizing hand gel, the other half (which DOES have it in plentiful supply) is prevented from selling it due to online censorship. Which leaves us with a big WHY question: Did they want millions of people to actually get the virus? Because here in Thailand, we have lots of PPE for sale, a VERY low infection rate and only 40ish deaths over more than 3 months - astounding really, in a country with a substantial and dense population and defined by others as developing.
In a world which appears to be employing sustained, longer term social distancing, online censorship is even more criminal.
People who are unable to travel, buy what they need or go out to discuss things face to face are even MORE reliant on the online world and the written word.
We don't know what we don't know, and we don't even know to ask in a coded way if we don't know.
Ultimately, censorship in my Thai world has always been about control of mainstream economic and political agendas, and crimes against humanity. No one put it better than @D-pend in his post earlier today:
those who engage in censorship commonly do so to obfuscate their own terrible crimes against humanity.
I tolerate neither economic or philosophical sanctions, nor crimes against humanity. I insist on my right to freedom of speech, whether it be to talk about the anti-cancer properties of Sabah Grass or to explain why the organic herbs in my body scrubs save lives because me buying them gives an income to displaced people abandoned by even the United Nations (who withdrew food aid for Karen displaced people in the last 12 months). I insist on the right to be allowed to sell my hand-sanitizer online to a nurse in Eastern Europe who is risking her life for others.
I don't just theoretically believe free speech is worth saving. I live with, experience and cry with people regularly who are destroyed (as in murdered, shot, maimed, starved and dispossessed) by a censored, mainstream, centralized agenda while the world blissfully thrives on stage-managed ignorance.
I intend to inform and engage those citizens of this world who care about free speech on behalf of those who don't speak your language but need you to hear their story.
I intend to document their struggle, as best as this solo-mom entrepreneur can, whilst creating the beginnings of a sustainable economic solution.
Free speech is the beginning of political and economic freedom. Here, along the Thai-Burmese border, it is a lofty goal that we still whisper about. In a country (Thailand) where technically a bad restaurant review remains illegal, as does criticism of the government.
There is much more I wish to say, but Thailand is under Martial Law and that constrains me more than usual. I err on the side of caution short term, so that my free speech and my actions may bear fruit for others in the longer term.
Grateful for the luxury of electricity, the internet and the voices on #Hive which INSIST on decentralization and no censorship. There is no other way forward as we create a new social paradigm here on planet Earth.
Contributed as a response to @TheyCallMeDan's #OCD challenge around the issue of free speech.
Got something to say too? The challenge details are here: #FreeSpeech Initiative.
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