People have lost their scepticism. They believe everything they are told now as long as it "comes from above".
"That free speech, which is the very precondition for democracy, can now be portrayed as a threat to it, shows the increasing extent to which those in control of cultural and political institutions are reluctant to tolerate dissenting opinions. And if free speech is deemed so threatening, it follows that those who practice it are deemed a danger to society, especially now, during the pandemic. This, it seems, is the fate of the contemporary sceptic." Frank Furedi