Free speech is a cornerstone of our society, for good reasons. A democracy depends on people being able to express their opinions about anybody, and anything. Even the richest and most powerful in society can be criticized by any citizen in a free society.
Like all rights, free speech is not absolute, there are certain things that we cannot say, for good reasons. It is against the law in Minnesota, and most other states to threaten force to intimidate someone, that is a crime in this state. While it is generally not a crime to make false statements about people, a person who does that can be sued in civil court for what is called defamation. Defamation is a false statement made about someone that the person making the statement either knows is false or should know is false. One is of course free to share their opinion about anyone. How does one tell the difference? A factual statement is one that can be proven true, or false; for example, if I say that someone is a criminal and they have never been convicted of a crime that is a false factual statement, same as if I say they are a thief, and they have never stolen anything. If I made those statements knowing they are not true I can be sued. If I make statements of opinion, ie that someone is greedy, or dumb, those are allowed.
False statements of fact can be very damaging for individuals, or businesses; if you are in business and someone says that you are a thief it will drive customers away. Statements like that are also very damaging to one’s personal reputation, being falsely accused of being a thief to our friends and family is humiliating. If someone makes false, factual statements about you, you do have the option to take action against them.
Ed