@jca When I read the quote, my mind immediately strayed to a number of examples.
My government places value on a degree of financial equality, and therefore taxes the wealthy while subsidising the poor. The balance they have decided upon achieves a measure of equality, though not much, while limiting the freedom of the wealthy to enjoy the fruits of their labours.
European governments value gender equality in business, and have set quotas of female board members for large companies. This limits the freedom of the companies to choose the best person for the job (who may or may not be female).
The Hulk Hogan vs Gawker Media lawsuit is all about this issue. Freedom of the press to report what they want is in conflict with Hogan’s quest for equality in maintaining the same right to privacy as another private citizen.
I think the principle applies across such a range of situations that we can talk about it in terms of the general principle.