Why the System No Longer Needs to Censor Social Media (youtube.com)
Before 2016-17 SM was mostly real independent people with organic opinions, but now ‘blue nodes’ influencers funded by corps/politicians. So many controlled voices independent voices aren't heard, so platforms feel fine unbanning for free speech reasons genuine dissenters. Instead of limiting speech, they limit/boost reach of speech, often paid to do so. Online figures are selected and highlighted by legacy media organizations, which makes them household names and makes actually independent voices seem illegitimate. Institutions can ‘absorb, fund and neuter critics.’