They just got better at hiding it, ironically because of Gamergate. Remember how openly smug they acted during gg? They thought labeling someone a "shitlord" and "neckbeard" was all they needed to unperson someone. Remember how activists like Big Red became laughing stocks?
When those labels became ineffective, they escalated: racist, sexist, transphobe, alt-right, nazi, fascist, etc. But the desired outcome remained the same. They want us gone. "No bad tactics, only bad targets".
They became better at obfuscating their intentions, they hide behing platitudes and slogans
It's very depressing. And I'm glad I can at least think to some extent.
I heard another study referenced yesterday, similar to the internal monologue thing, and the breakfast memes, that say seventy-five percent of people have basically no critical thinking capacity, and go along with authority almost all the time. And this was linked back to what we saw during Covid.
It's just such a depressing thought, that such a high percentage of my fellow humans are almost literal NPCs. But there's plenty of anecdotal and statistical data showing, if not 75%, at the very least the number is disturbingly high.