Yes governments can and have used thought control from time to time. The Vietnam war is an example where control of thought was feeble. Stalin is a case where control of thought was constant and decades long. Both Putin and Stalin use neighbors and children to tell on any criticism with extreme and long punishment, physical beating (just one day beat the hell out of everyone who criticizes becomes decades long policy. What I am talking about with AI and software punishments is cheap, effective identification of any criticism and immediate economic and social pain that is constant.