For free speech to serve its function, certain conditions must be met. One such condition is that the population must be educated. If this condition is not satisfied, demagogues can easily abuse free speech by playing on people's weaknesses and lack of understanding. Another condition is that the people must be moral. If they are purely self-serving and not interested in pursuing truth and moral judgments, then free speech will just be used for vicious partisan wars.

We may still "have free speech," but the conditions that make it functional aren't being met.

It's like a marriage where one spouse is secretly unfaithful. Sure, they are "married," but the foundational condition of fidelity has been violated. It's a marriage in name only, an empty formalism.

We have free speech in name only. The conditions which allow free speech to be an effective regulatory mechanism of public tensions are unsatisfied--just like a wife or husband that cheats.