I know people who don’t pay and do ok on the apps. I don’t know if it’s your area or your profile, but maybe try to get some feedback from women irl or online if you haven’t already. I know a lot of millennial women got off the apps a bit back, so that might also be a factor.

I’m terrified of becoming an internet post now if I approach someone.

For what it’s worth, I’ve generally only seen this sentiment from people who don’t know how to behave around women. Maybe you’re an exception, but most normal guys I know don’t have an issue with that. They may be nervous to approach, but never out of fear of being lambasted online. If this is a real concern for you, I’d suggest reading some of these posts and just not behaving in the way they have an issue with.

I’ve mostly seen people take issue when the government puts controls or blocks. I’ve not seen any pushback for parental controls. I don’t hang out on parenting communities though.

It’s more been threatened than actually happened, but I would suggest keeping in mind that the issue isn’t eminent domain or the power companies (though obviously fuck them, they should be nationalized), the issue is the data centers and the government not restricting those. If more power is needed there’s not much to be done other than build more power infrastructure. The issue is allowing these data centers to be built in such an unsustainable and harmful way that puts pressure on the grid.