While you're right about those, the other side to that is that while propaganda and censorship work, they always fall to what people see with their own two eyes. All the pro-war propaganda the military can put out doesn't work against shots of Vietnam at dinnertime. That's what made nonviolent resistance work in protests- it was built around "our opponents aren't monsters- if they see us literally doing nothing and getting beaten and punished for it, they'll know we're the good guys and come around".

Indeed, that's why the trans sports situation has done more to start people against it than anything else- there were a number of things propaganda could cover up- but this was the first example where people could see Thomas had no business competing against them with their own eyes...and worse, it COULD NOT be downplayed, because to downplay Thomas's performance is to agree with the people against it.