Comment by donw

> The government should not be throwing people in prison for allegedly "spreading lies for personal or political gain"

Many people don't know that the Soviet constitution guaranteed freedom of speech[1] (Article 125[1]), provided it was "in conformity with the interests of the working people, and in order to strengthen the socialist system"

Same goes for other socialist governments: the People's Republic of China (Article 35[2]), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Article 67[3]), the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany, Article 9[4]), and so on.

Of course, the reality was and is lengthy imprisonment for "free speech" against the government or ruling class.

"Free speech, except for [exceptions that are nearly infinite in scope]" is a key feature of socialist governments, as is justifying the imprisonment of dissidents and undesirables as "fighting anti-democratic forces" and "preventing the spread of misinformation".

Moreover, socialist governments are very clear that they are democracies; it's often in the name (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and also frequently appears in speeches, official documents, etc.

Their commitment to "democracy" isn't just words-on-paper, either! Voting is usually either mandatory or "strongly encouraged", although you can only vote for a Party-approved candidate, and the outcome of elections is basically pre-determined.

[1] https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/36cons04....

[2] http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/englishnpc/Constitution/2007-11/...

[3] https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Peoples_Repub...

[4] https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/1999/1/1/33cc8de2-3c...