Societies who do NOT have a history of free speech, have trouble when they finally want to find out why their people are so angry. If your country has a history of killing and imprisoning protesters and their families, you are going to have trouble "opening a dialog" with protesters.
The main reason that governments should want free speech is that they NEED to know what people are thinking. If people do not feel free to talk, it is difficult to find out what people are thinking.
But if your country has made progress, if you have a new government that is trying to be democratic, you have to talk about your problems in order to get your problems solved. SOMEONE has to have the courage to tell the government WHY people are so angry that they are rioting in the streets. Because, honestly, rioting in the streets is a LOT less effective than talking and VOTING.
If you are angry about your constitution, start a PEACEFUL movement to amend the constitution. If you are angry about religious fanatics running your country, join the club, because we all have some religious fanatics trying to run our countries.
If you want to "open a dialog" with your people, you MUST assure them that they and their families will NOT face ANY reprisals because of what they say.
DEMOCRACY IS HARD, UNENDING WORK, but freedom is worth all the effort.
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