This isn't a "what if", they HAVE always been this corrupt and it has been public knowledge for decades.

The difference now is the scale at which the censorship must reach to be effective today.

When all the establishment had to censor was a handful of media companies, it was generally accepted because the public were strictly consumers. Now that the consumers have become the ones being censored, we finally get to see first hand the ramifications of decades of complacency.