Never expressed that way where? By who? I thought there was pretty widely available + straightforward information about new variants, how they work, how the observed transmissibility was different, and on the other hand people harping on a guidance change without bothering to check the rationale.

I think you're conflating a lot of different people talking about a lot of different things. The guidelines themselves and how they change, third party companies and the terms of service they choose to set, all the other people with opinions to express. Where / how / with who were you expecting to see this adult conversation about what was censored?

It makes sense that guidelines would change as covid changed

Politics is dealing with important things, and the internet is the internet, so sadly any political opinion can invite abuse depending on where it's expressed. It doesn't negate the importance of participating. And obviously there are plenty of people you'll never interact with on the internet who want to make their communities better, want you to vote, and also won't give you a hard time about your opinions.

“I won’t vote until people aren’t assholes” is an impossible precondition so this is just a rationalization to never vote