A free speech demonstration staged by conservatives in San Francisco on Saturday was attacked by several hundred counterprotesters. An Associated Press photographer witnessed a Trump supporter being taken away in an ambulance.

When demonstrators threw glass bottles and plastic water bottles over police barricades at the group, the event was canceled. The event’s organizer posted photos of his bloody mouth with a front tooth missing and another hanging loosely. The San Francisco Police Department said three officers were assaulted with pepper spray and caustic chemicals; one was taken to a local hospital for treatment. 

In other news, Twitter and Facebook blocked users last week from sharing a New York Post article making damaging claims about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said his company had been wrong to block the links, but Twitter still refuses to unlock the Post‘s account unless it deletes posts about its reporting on this issue. 

Freedom of speech and trust in the media are more threatened today than any time in my lifetime. Three issues are at work here, each of which is enormously significant for all Americans. 

One: Media bias 

An exhaustive new survey by Gallup and the Knight Foundation found “deepening pessimism and further partisan entrenchment about how the news media delivers on its democratic mandate for factual, trustworthy information.” They note that 86 percent of Americans see political bias in news coverage. According to 73 percent of us, this lack of objectivity is a “major problem” in our society. 

Here is where the survey…