Part of the power of the marketing of social media was the freedom of expression, the privacy and the anonymity to share opinions of all kinds and allow the "Undesirables" to simply fade away in to obscurity as "decent Normal" people would simply ignore them.
That however is not what happened, because what the governments failed to remember was that people are in the majority of cases idiots.
Morons, bigots and misery mongers are in the majority, because almost everyone has a beef about something and is looking for someone to blame it on who is not themselves.
When computer technology was made so simple even a cretin could use it the internet became a gathering place for discontent and a world wide open forum for dissension.
At which point it becomes clear the internet was never free, private or anonymous and that everything everyone says has been recorded, stored and in some cases used to track down people with the "wrong" ideas without ever openly discussing what a "wrong" thought is.
Soon to it becomes clear than the one thing more dangerous than a moronic idiot, is an educated idiot who not only thinks they know better than everyone else but thinks everyone else should know better too and starts playing at being the thought police.
Public opinion becomes mob mentality, democracy becomes Ochlocracy and the mob begins demanding back freedoms they never had in the first place and that freedoms be taken from the "wrong people."

I was once asked how dictators rise up if the majority of the people are not behind them, because surely majority rules?
I said no, dictators are carried to power by a loud minority with powerful media on their side, you need not oppress a majority, you simply tell them they oppressed until they are so frightened they oppress themselves or worse demand to be oppressed in order to feel safe.

Social media is the most powerful weapon ever given to the human race, the governments thought it would be their tool, instead it was wrestled away from them and turned on them like a child with daddy's gun and now their reaction is to try and snatch it back by legislation, to put the safety catch on after the bullet has been fired.