According to Mark Moss, the Industrial Revolution, which began 250 years ago, introduced new technology that moved people from farms and cottage industries to cities and factories. When assembly lines were introduced, everyone became a cog in the wheel, and factories produced masses of similar products. This gave rise to central planners, who used management techniques to manage the masses in these mass factories.
However, Moss goes on to explain that this type of government is no longer compatible with today's world, which is the digital information age. People have diverse interests thanks to the internet, and there are millions of jobs available. Because it was designed for the Industrial Age, the current form of central planning no longer works.
The government's goal is to maintain and expand power, and it will go to any length to do so, including total control, surveillance, censorship, and disinformation campaigns. Moss compares it to the Protestant Reformation when the printing press changed the world and allowed people to obtain information that contradicted what the state was telling them. Similarly, no matter how many laws and regulations the government enacts, the information is out there, and people will find a way to access it.
The US government's response to free information is the Restrict Act, the most draconian bill ever seen in the US, which aims to suppress information and shut down accounts that the government does not like.
Source:
Mark Moss, 13 April 2023, "Why The Pentagon Leak Is So Much Bigger",