[Tloewald]

Generally, "nanny-state" refers to the presence or absence of a social safety net, and not so much to censorship. The US provides less of a safety net.

As for authoritarian-ness, the press freedoms in the US are greater (Australia's libel laws are terrible, for example) but the US also incarcerates its citizens at a frightening rate, executes people, seizes property, and runs a prison camp on an island specifically to deny inmates normal rights. You decide which is worse.