[cempaka]

Every one of those thousands of banks is dependent on remaining in the government's good graces. Canada doesn't have thousands of banks (a setup we'll almost certainly move closer to as the regional banks face ongoing problems), but in the case where an official at Freeland's level said, "jump," they all said "how high?" It's very similar to how censorship, including of many true propositions, was enforced on social media during the COVID/vaccines hysteria. In that case people are also arguing it's "not a first amendment issue" and not having unqualified success in the courts. But your notion that any of this comes as a result of grassroots popular demands is largely a fantasy.