Why does the internet today feel so much “softer” compared to the 2005–2012 era?

Tons and tons of censorship and aggressive moderation so as to not piss off corporate advertising interests, mostly.

Also, wokesters and their cancel culture made the internet a lot worse. Combine those two and you have the anesthetized HR-ized borefest we have now. Also, this person sounds too young to remember the earlier era (pre-2004) where it was even more Wild West.