Just because it's not always easy to get consensus doesn't mean all positions are equally valid.
In countries with rule of law, elections, and free press, the law in that country holds more importance than unelected dictatorships with state controlled media.
Small L liberalism has a lot of values around the things you suggest: free speech, freedom of expression, laws against violence. A lot of these values make the answers to your questions pretty easy. In the corner cases if the country has rule of law, elections, and a free press - deference to their law is probably fine (though not a panacea).
