Democracy and free speech do not necessarily go together. Democracy is a system of government “by the people,” usually in the form of voting for representatives. Censorship and free speech do not necessarily follow from that political system, being more in the realm of basic human rights. Around the world democracy takes many forms. So do cultural and political notions of free speech, and government’s role regulating and censoring speech.

If the majority of Indian people want free speech, but their government does not honor that, then their democracy is dysfunctional and unrepresentative in that regard. A majority of Americans support stricter gun control, but our government does not honor that, so American democracy has its own dysfunctions.