Thinking about it, there may actually be a strong link. Reddit spent the last few years badgering mods into "combating misinformation". A war against an 'enemy

Thinking about it, there may actually be a strong link. Reddit spent the last few years badgering mods into "combating misinformation". A war against an 'enemy' is an 'easy' way to get people in line. For example, the science sub banned people for linking an official EU recommendation against more than 4 vaccines, or for questioning the natural origin theory. That's not science; it's antithetical to science. Repeat this at scale, over millions of users, tens of thousands of subs, thousands of links, hundreds of concepts, over years; all powered and amplified by LLM powered bots and shadowy PR teams. Complicit mods, those who didn't give much of a toss about free speech or independent thought, were selected for and elevated during this process. Meanwhile, users and moderators who didn't like the idea of censoring alternate and legitimate viewpoints have been leaving / shadowbanned / marginalized for the past couple years. Would the resistance of Reddit users and mods have been stronger without the above circumstances? I think it actually made a huge difference. Reddit today is far worse than Reddit 4 years ago. Reddit tomorrow will be exponentially worse again, I have no doubt. The Corona "misinformation war" has been a large factor in that.