Yeah, many know it's all a lie and they're all scared of getting their throats slit, literally or figuratively.
This situation is not unique. For example, in the U.S. of the early nineteenth century after a failed slave revolt many Southern slave states passed laws forbidding people to advocate the abolition of slavery. Very quickly, what followed was an upward spiral of extremism as competing politicians traded accusations and sought to out-do each other as to who was more pro-slavery and who should be muzzled as being an Abolitionist. The distortion of psyche expanded to promoting slavery itself and seeking its extension throughout the Union and beyond. This was a contributing factor to the U.S.-Mexico wars and eventually to the U.S. Civil War itself.
Could the baseless hate and tragic results have been avoided if more brave people had made the effort to speak up and defend the right to freedom of opinion and debate? What do you think? And do you or do you not owe it to your self, your family, and your country to try to avoid a similar fate?