It clicked for me that the real danger posed by encryption to these governments is that it can guarantee truth. When everything is narrative, even something as

It clicked for me that the real danger posed by encryption to these governments is that it can guarantee truth. When everything is narrative, even something as simple as a commitment hash for a document removes discretion from the sovereign body because it encapsulates a non-repudiable truth. Irreversible processes (like blockchains) constrain the effect of rule by fiat. The people who write these censorship and anti-encryption regulations aren't worried about secrecy or even crime, violance, and abuse, they just fear being accountable to truth. The real danger of encryption, and in particular blockchains, is that it can subordinate the legitimacy of the state and its policies and actions to a test of truth, and this is why they hate it. The abuse and terrorism arguments are red herrings for this to distract from this fundamental dynamic.