I only mentioned one program. A program that is literally comparable because it's literally what is being replaced. That program has been public knowledge in media such as TV shows and movies for decades. So when we're fear-mongering, we should only compare with that, and we should see what effects it had and the nonsense being used for fear-mongering.
Also, Signal was released not because of end-to-end encryption but because the founder sold WhatsApp and wasn't happy with the direction.