>it was not all that long ago that we had the "equal time" rule that required media outlets to host both liberal and conservative commentary
That only ever applied to broadcast media (and maybe only to prime-time TV). Publishers of the written word have never been required by the US government to grant equal time.
>For most of the history of the United States free speech has been more limited than it is today
I don't know what you could mean by that unless you are referring to the fact that before the internet became mainstream, you had to own a printing press or something like that to reach a mass audience.
