The center collapsed before deplatforming was a big thing. I think you have the arrow of causation backward. Deplatforming is driven by increasing polarization.

The center collapsed before deplatforming was a big thing. I think you have the arrow of causation backward. Deplatforming is driven by increasing polarization. The center collapsed because the establishment discredited itself in the 2000s: Iraq, the housing bubble, banks-before-people bailouts, etc. Now everyone is flailing around looking for alternatives. The hard right was first to the dance, but I see a lot of signs of growth on the hard left too. I wonder if the hard left will get deplatformed too if the rhetoric starts sounding really extreme? They might, especially if there is a loud call for wealth redistribution.