Interesting premise. With the post truth thing though, not sure if a government should be the best bad guys, sure the government and media manipulate popular opinion. But think 2016 taught us, people now have access to bypass mainstream media and get to the facts, but rather than this leading to enlightenment most people will only listen to things they want to hear.
it seems so out of control of the government, the government didn’t want brexit but now they have to appease the masses no mater how self destructive.
So I kind of look back at the past and how people always criticise the government and mainstream media for being bias and dishonest etc and while it was obviously true, seems like it might pale in comparison to what will come, as at least in the past there was some regulation and legal checks on what people claimed, in the emerging system it is just chaos