Meaning of 'Where free speech is less an idea than an experience' [closed]

Recently, I was looking for articles about freedom of speech and came across one article. Its title was 'Where free speech is less an idea than an experience'. The expression 'something is less a something than a something' was difficult to understand. Can the title of the article equated with 'where free speech is an experience rather than an idea'?

Solution 1:

Yes, it absolutely can. Of course, the nuance of the new version is slightly different - the first one seems to emphasise that, in other places, free speech is indeed still more of an idea (basically, it's a criticism), while the second is more assertive. It announces the fact that it is "here and only here that free speech truly prevails" It's a very fine distinction though, one I doubt most would notice or care about.