You can both be right. It is true that this apparatus presents an unparalleled opportunity for the suppression of free speech. It is also true that, compared to Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, Crusades-era Europe, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, etc. we are nowhere near the historical maximum of such suppression...
...which makes it all the more important that we quash said opportunity now.
It's also worth noting, though, that the current situation has the potential to be more global and pervasive than all of those more localized historical examples.
I seem to recall an intelligence agency official or general saying something to the effect of "America will be remembered for it's networks the way that Rome is remembered for its roads." I can't seem to find the quote right now, but I think it's illustrative of the bounds and limits of our present apparatus.
...which makes it all the more important that we quash said opportunity now.