They never cared about surveillance. If anything they want as much as possible. They just want their guys to be in charge for it. It is like how the people who use the strongest anti-child porn language are also the most likely to get caught with the worst child porn imaginable. You notice how roblox isn’t suffering under the new laws despite the laws being explicitly worded to protect children? This is because it was always about monitoring dissidents. Regular criminals will continue to use tech to do regular crime (drug dealing, murder, theft) and a minimal precaution on their end might be sufficient to prevent them from getting caught. They will not be subject to any more new restrictions.

But protesters? That is what they have always been for. Always.