Just following on from @MajorRage post in the NZ Politics thread and trying to make sense of this stuff.....
It's the civil rights fight of this generational group - just like gay rights, apartheid etc. Previous battles won - freedom of speech, equality under the law. women's rights - are likely seen as old-hat and less important to respect.
There's a belief that as the battle on women's right has largely been won, sex doesn't actually matter - people should be able to choose
Science and facts are less important than feelings as he former are a bit dry, boring - and unemotional. We can get a bigger emotional hit by interacting emotionally online with like-minded people. And an even bigger hit when we meet up to protest in real-life.
And just as people can't get directly physically hurt online, this poss. translates into thinking intimidation and paint-throwing/damage to property is OK
In the past, people's values and moral were rooted in day-day experiences which earlier generation took online when social media appeared. Are later generations increasingly taking their online morals and values into real-life? Does this explain the violence and groupthink?
Media, business & politicians are targeting this group or generation (which cuts across traditional political groupings) for click-revenue, marketing opportunities and votes. (Follow the money)
Most of these beliefs - like many who espouse them - are nonsensical and collapse when facing reality - as we've seen in other countries, sports and institutions when the harms they cause become really apparent.