As someone who has been in one of those mentioned asian countries since before the crisis and seen the response first hand while also keeping in touch with my western family I can say the comparison is apples to oranges. 100% the best covid response (including mask usage) and a dozen lessons to learn but the approach needs to evaluated comprehensively.

I absolutely don’t disagree with that.

My beef though isn’t with covid opinions or data interpretations, its with silencing dissent heavy-handedly without warning. Imo, much more dangerous than a teenager spouting garbage.

And with twisting of the words of others on top of it. I agree. This kind of moderation is way more problematic than the problem that it is meant to fight.