There was a time when the fundamental premise of a free society was delightfully simple: citizens were presumed to be rational adults, capable of weighing arguments, sifting through evidence, and coming to their own conclusions. The state existed to secure rights, build infrastructure, and enforce the rule of law. It did not exist to act as a governance committee for the human mind.
Today, that old liberal democratic bargain is being systematically dismantled. In its place has emerged a burgeoning, multi-million-euro industry dedicated to a single, deeply patronising goal: protecting the public from “disinformation.”