The difference is that traditional "free" governments don't maintain the entrenchment of existing political officials and the competitive dominance of their own

The difference is that traditional "free" governments don't maintain the entrenchment of existing political officials and the competitive dominance of their own domestic industry as a defensive justification for using their legal system to force companies to disclose, steal, falsify, or destroy information in secret. Companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft are free to challenge court orders from the US or other friendly governments, even those ordered in secret, and they regularly do so. You don't hear about it, but it's pretty common. And these cases do get the scrutiny of many eyes, following similar legal paths as more traditional court challenges, only without all the news coverage.