Because you used a false narrative for the first item so need to go further.
My terminology was too strong in the OP, I retracted it. Not proven, but research is keeps pointing in that direction. A story posted in the WSJ and NYT is hardly "a false narrative".
Something doesn't need to be proved 100% correct without reasonable doubt for it to be considered a valid viewpoint. Politicians and parents who wanted to keep schools open were called murderers. Not by randos on Twitter, but by other law and policymakers.
This is untrue, but the affect heuristic would have you believe this. Nobody’s posting the countless studies and medical opinions in support of masking, vaccines, etc. anymore.
Note I didn't say vaccines, I said vaccines vs infection. This forum is one place that was never treated as a conspiracy theory, unlike MSM and public health policy.
And where are the "countless" pro mask mandate studies coming out?
Keep in mind, we are talking about things that had severe personal and professional consequences for those who dared counter the "narrative". It's not enough to say there is plenty of evidence coming out the other way that we don't hear about. There needs to be a huge public reckoning, Non-covid vaccination rates are dropping, and trust in public health officials is shot. I don't know what it will take for it to be restored, but pretending that people weren't shut down for sharing legitimate opinions is definitely not going to help.