I guess we should be thankful for our divided congress and inept president. They will not likely be able to impose a united dictatorial regime even with a lot of pressure from the United Neo-Liberal/Conservative Plutocratic Oligarchic Elites. The elected and the electorate are divided. It will take some sort of détente to get an agreement on an authoritarian government.

This could use some unpacking:

“expressing misgivings and objecting to the sanctity of the “mainstream” approach ………… Well, YouTube retaliated by flagging their video as a violation of community guidelines and promptly squirreled it away from public view.

………….. illustrate the larger implications of “complicated content” removal. State control of information is exceedingly dangerous territory.”

You jump from YouTube censoring content to “State control of information” YouTube has resisted the pressure of the government before and I don’t think in this case they are responding to government pressure either. Even dictatorial regimes like Iran and China can’t control all information when they have a license to do so, what makes you think the USA with a strong history of freedom of information and free speech can.

Yes, the federal government and the states have exceeded their legitimate authority but they are far from authoritarian.

I agree we need to remain skeptical and vigilant.

TEK