Free speech can no longer be treated as a frozen clause in our constitutions but must be reimagined as a living right fit for the twenty-first century. Against the twin temptations of absolutism and paternalism, the case is made for a centrist-liberal approach built on “active responsibility”: systemic transparency for platforms, procedural firebreaks against government overreach, anti-SLAPP protections for journalists, and proportionate judicial remedies that preserve lawful speech. Drawing on the UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 34, landmark cases such as Sanchez v. France and Counterman v. Colorado, and the work of scholars like Tarleton Gillespie, Kate Klonick, and Evelyn Douek, the piece calls for a global rethinking of how we design the institutions, data flows, and safeguards that allow diverse voices not just to speak, but to be heard.