I think "nope" is in reference to "hacking" system. The point of the article is that hacking by software vendors that sell to law enforcement was a pressure relief valve that deflated the movement that the FBI was pushing at the time to have Apple (and others) build backdoors into their systems. If the phones could be hacked, and backdoors were not necessary the FBI could back off and still get what they want. If the FBI can't get what they want, they can either pressure the companies like Apple, or they can pressure congress to make laws requiring this. The phone makers could stand on principle, go to court, but the courts in the US are not very tech savvy, and usually deferential to law enforcement. Other countries may be better than the US, but some are definitely going to be worse.

So is a backdoor worse than a security vulnerability? I don't know but that is what this article is about.

It sounds like we should be gearing up for that fight then, so we can win it.

What do you mean "Nope", you mean "Yep" right? What you are describing is precisely "more authoritarian and aggressive"