[hnpolicestate]

"secret authoritarian “plot” to preserve the ability to spread antidemocratic conspiracy theories" - Applebaum is an American citizen so she should already know this but it's not an "ability", it's a right we all share. Say what you like, read what you want.

[kbrkbr]

If she is right in her assessment despite the wording, and these rights are something like a security vulnerability for societies, limiting them is not the only option. You can as well decide to use compensating controls (education, minimum age for social media, more bot control, limiting foreign agents access - not endorsing any of this, just some examples I heard elsewhere. This would thwart the ability without changing the rights it seems, which shows they are something different), or accept the risk tied to them as lesser than the gains.