There is no correlation between free software as described by the FSF and communism, despite what some people believe. While it's no secret that Stallman himself has clearly leftist political views in general, that doesn't mean the concept of free software is "leftist" as well.
However, at least from what I've seen, "communists" aren't the ones trying to "appropriate" the term by making it communism, it's often done by opponents of free software trying to discredit it, sometimes in bad faith, but usually out of the common misunderstanding that it's about money, when it's not.
At the end of the day, the goal of free software is allowing people to have more control over their technological property.
FYI, Stallman is one of (((them))).