Nothing has changed in decades regarding this. People just like to pretend something new is happening, because they're extremely desperate to proclaim a fundamental turning / ending of the US (which is why every single event brings out those claims: this time is different! America will never recover from this! etc).
replyUS tech companies were previously forced into compliance with PRISM or threatened with destruction (see: escalating fines to infinity against Yahoo, forcing their eventual compliance).
You know what's new? This administration is doing out in the open what used to go on quietly.
The US has already ended. It was destroyed in 9/11/2001. America is a shadow of its former self.
reply> Nothing has changed
reply> You know what's new? This administration is doing out in the open what used to go on quietly.
So this administration has got bold and the behaviour has become overt.