Well, the private organization thing is really the issue in a nutshell: Google is not a public space, no matter how large it is. What drives them is revenue, not free speech.
In my opinion, this update is a direct response to that issue (the paragraph on "de-monetizing" content that is found unacceptable, but still within content guidelines, suggests to me as much). This is all about placating advertisers, who didn't want an advertisement for Brand XYZ appearing to ISIS recruitment videos and the like. I can't really think of a way to get around this -- to do so, you are basically asking Google to force brands to pay for content they find objectionable. (Which they won't do, in the end.)
Hmm, but why cut off comments or restrict search results if it's just about placating advertisers? There seems to be more here at play.
I agree Google doesn't care about free speech.
I'm not sure about the best remedy to the problem. Things as diverse as legislation to alternative non-centralized social network to simply trying to change corporate and cultural values all come to mind...
Google is a company backed by advertising. Youtube has faced very noticeable controversy from advertisers (including a "boycott" -- https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/24/15053990/google-youtube-a...) over "hate speech" and other offensive content.
In my opinion, this update is a direct response to that issue (the paragraph on "de-monetizing" content that is found unacceptable, but still within content guidelines, suggests to me as much). This is all about placating advertisers, who didn't want an advertisement for Brand XYZ appearing to ISIS recruitment videos and the like. I can't really think of a way to get around this -- to do so, you are basically asking Google to force brands to pay for content they find objectionable. (Which they won't do, in the end.)