Is self-censorship the worst kind of censorship?

I never though much about what "self-censorship" means before. Wikipedia says:

Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority.

So basically avoiding to use your right for free speech out of fear, eventhough no-one is actually threatning you explicitly or at this moment.

I started thinking about this when I heard it connected with Ethereum and node operators censoring transactions based on OFAC rules. They do it because they are afraid that someone (the government) might come after them if they don't.

Now, this overflows to other parts of our lifes. This guy is essentially saying that if you have a influence, you should self-censor to not hurt shitty products/companies:

Yes, he explicitly talks about the title of the video which is obviously made to maximize clicks, but not doing that would still be self-censorship.

We try to be decent human beings and not hurt eachothers' feelings. But my thinking here is that we are potentially losing more than we gain by not speaking what we think, or doing what we want - because often it is easier to not do/say something at all, than find a non-insulting way of saying/doing it. Humans are lazy by design.

Coming back to Ethereum, this leads to actual economical loss - to the block proposers and users for not-including potentially "worrying" TXs - or paying significantly more to get them included. In our daily life this might lead to not getting a better job because we are afraid or not engaging with particular people because of "what would others think".

Funily enough this also happened to me when I decided to go fulltime web3 - people who I valued a lot started to send me weird messages judging my choice of industry:D For me this is laughable, but for others it might be enough to reconsider.

We should be free to utilize our freedoms - like the one applying to speech.

In case of Ethereum blocks and transactions, all we really need is privacy for both users and node operators - e.g. if I don't know what is in the TX included in the proposed block, I don't even have to think about whether to include it.

In case of us speaking out loud, there is no simple solution. Privacy still plays a major role - being able to use technology privately can help you form your thoughts and when you are ready, you can speak up. But it seems like this is more up to the society to re-learn how to accept other humans' uncensored thoughts without feeling hurt.

I am glad we are able to speak openly at Institute of Free Technology - as experienced on our off-site last week. I am also excited we are building technology allowing to avoid self-censorship through privacy and other means - Waku, Nomos, Codex.

What would you do if you were not afraid?