The US has always only had the illusion of free speech. Since people can openly criticize politicians and vent their frustrations, they can be kept relatively tame.
But saying anything that the government perceives as actually dangerous has always been a fast ticket to being quietly taken care of. It's been brought more to the forefront in the collective consciousness recently with the advent of truly mass social media platforms and the difficulty of suppressing information leakage but it's always been like that. People just aren't used to it being openly known.
Don't be fooled by the people crying about free speech being under attack - it's mostly a "gotcha" talking point to fan outrage and garner political support. Cancel culture is very real and often toxic but has very little to do with government institutions. Free speech has never been about cultural suppression of ideas but the idea that the government cannot censure you. If you run into a crowd of people and insult all of them at once, you should expect to be attacked regardless of any governmental guarantee of free speech.
