Americans are already being arrested and convicted for free speech that is protected under the US constitution. For now, Americans who live in countries allied with the US face arrest and prison time, and it has at least tacit support from the Biden Administration.
Things can quickly get worse. The next logic steps are to use allies to arrest Americans for the “crime” of free speech when they are merely traveling through another country and/or extradite Americans for trial in a foreign court.
Of course, countries such as Germany, Ukraine, and the UK all have laws that nominally protect free speech, but then again so did the Soviet Union. The key thing is how the laws are interpreted and enforced.
At this point, we are one election away from establishing a police state. If Democrats gain control of the presidency and the senate, it is a simple matter to stack the Supreme Court to “reinterpret” the first amendment. If they gain control of the House as well, then they would be free to ban opposition candidates, end voting rights for opposition groups, allow paramilitary units and gangs to terrorize anyone who opposes the government, etc.
If this scenario sounds farfetched realize that it has happened before. The Jim Crow South was effectively a one-party dictatorship under control of Democrats. Election results were determined by whites-only Democratic primaries. Gangs and paramilitary units allied with the government were able to use violence and lynchings to enforce the established order without fear of prosecution. It took a most of century to reverse that.
