Authoritarian leaders justify their use of power by appealing to the
greater good of the people. They have to justify both their policies
and their position.
In democracies the voters are themselves responsible for who is
allowed political power, and democratically elected leaders are thus
free to justify their politics on the basis of ethics and rationality.
When western elites justify authoritarian meassures - such as
censorship - they do it on the basis on "our common values". This is
not an ethical argument, but an appeal to the masses.
Over time these authoritarian meassures can only be sustained by pure
populism.
