The closings I think were a good move overall. Discussions cool off and will start back up again. Persons can make their views known. We are told we should be more civil and that is a reasonable request. Some even view that as a attempt to hinder free speech. Bottom line is these determinations are up to the owner.
Never should a thread be allowed to go on once the whole thing has hit bottom. Sometimes clear action is more than justified.
It is evident that Google for one has been actively working with China on monitoring and controlling content for some time. Remember the complaints back in the day when they were first engaged in a working relationship? Here we have candid discussions and they often drive into the ditch. Sometimes the vehicle is totaled and just scrap. Time for another means of transportation and more caution while driving mad.
A lot has been perfected by high tech in this area and I believe the news opinion media and social media are good examples of where bias takes place regularly. See the banning and the reactions today and it is clear that there is a lot of control and such going on. Things will change for better or worse and yet many feel and with good reasons that freedoms are eroding.