The thing that concerns me the most is that I still remember how our former socialist government curbed criticism and it was pretty much entirely through non-state actors - critics and "undesirables" found them selves out of their jobs, their children got scholarships denied, landlords suddenly didn't want to rent apartments, reporters found themselves fired for gross negligence, funding (both governmental and private) for academic institutions housing critical scientists just disappeared. At the end of the day it mattered absolutely nothing WHO was the actor - expressing opinions against the party line could threaten your livelihood, your future and future of your children.

Because of that it's utterly terrifying to me when I see those notions here on HN - it seems like visitors on this site know very little about history of the 20th century and the reasoning for many ways how modern (supposedly) free states are set up.

Note that that's not to say that people cannot be criticized for their opinions - but there's a difference between criticism and attempting to destroy someones career and ability to join social circles. It's a blurry line, but still a line. It's the difference between politely shutting up your racist homophobic uncle on a gathering or demanding that his pension is revoked.