I believe the people who push back are the same people who educate themselves on the dangers of digital gulag and therefore on the ways to bypass the totalitarianism.

With restrictions being arguably more tight in Russia their propaganda machine worked out great for the government — one can not protest without being sent to jail, which basically means being forced to go to war and almost certainly die — most people do not ask any questions any more and are confident that whatever the government is doing is meant to protect them.