"The country with the best civil rights protections sets the bar for the world. It's well know that when the US, considered a bastion of free speech, adopts a restriction on free speech, the rest of the world starts arguing, "Well, if the USA can do this, and they're nuts about free speech, surely we can too.""

Are you seriously suggesting that the US has the best civil rights protections in the world? Ever heard
of Guantanamo?

Better than Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria? Come on!