Critique Isn’t Authoritarian Support

Arguing that a research program is methodologically weak or politically overbroad is not the same as endorsing the political actors who exploit poor research; conflating the two short-circuits legitimate debate and chills scrutiny. Labeling methodological critics as propagandists risks bureaucratic or platform responses that substitute demotion or censorship for evidence-based rebuttal. — If cultivated, this rhetorical shortcut will shrink permissible academic critique and funnel disputes over evidence into partisan identity fights with real policy consequences for regulation, fact-checking, and platform moderation.