This is the real genius of the way the west manipulates people in my opinion. Western approach focuses on ensuring that the mainstream narrative aligns with the interests of the oligarchs, with some dissenting voices being allowed at the fringes. Majority of people want to fit in, so they naturally adopt the views of people around them. Meanwhile, contrarian views being allowed on the fringes makes it possible for people to say there’s no censorship, these views just aren’t popular because they’re nonsensical conspiracy theories, and so on. Thus, the very existence of alternative views further reinforces the belief in the mainstream narrative for the majority.

I do think there is a caveat to this though, which is that when the narrative strays too far from the material reality people experience then it starts running into problems. Hence why we’re now starting to see increasing numbers of people falling out of the mainstream.

Incidentally, I thought this was an interesting interview where they point out the growing problems with the Ukrainian narrative and how Europe is now doubling down on censorship because the reality has diverged too far. https://youtu.be/HWvynzLu9yI