Self censorship is extremely powerful, and is the result of many things.
IF there is real censorship from a position of authority self-censorship will result.
But also there is self censorship that arises out of fear of repercussions from the status-quo or mainstream culture. This relates to the whales situation you mention.
If someone is beloved, the common people are reticent to dissent or accuse them, but if someone is notorious or hated they'll be fearful to stand up against that person and co-signing their ideas works the same.

But things are never so simple. It's hard to establish a system where there is freedom, order, and happiness at scale with individuals and collectives alike.
It is like Musk with Twitter though. I believe in free-speech. I think a free society means dealing with unpleasant things expressed from free speech too. We deal with unpleasant things like those to avoid more horrible actions like violence or extreme activism that are likely to arise when people are suppressed or oppressed.