This is affecting me, too. I see immediate family members (especially older generation) unable to distinguish sources of truth. It makes me reconsider China's state-run propaganda system filtering what people are allowed to see/hear. Perhaps western civilization swings too far towards individualism when railing against the value of groups & institutions digesting information first.
Chinese people cannot have a say on things like Xinjiang in their own country because of the influence of the party over their media ecosystem. We can improve ours significantly, undoubtedly, but I would look more towards Europe than China for alternatives. Germany spent years Nazi proofing their system and so far the results have been not bad.
You're right that in Germany the Nazi problem is now negligible, but the real problem we face is extreme Islamofascist groups (to use Macron's words). In France, Macron banned the Gray Wolves, a Turkish ultra-nationalist group.
But Germany faces a very big problem with the Turkish-nationalist population. Probably more of a threat than France, given that the Turkish population in Germany is upwards of 9%. Even Turkish-German politicians are now calling for a ban on the Gray Wolves and other such extreme organizations (see https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/german-lawmakers-urge-b...).
While this ban may go through, the problem of radical Islam will remain a persistent threat in Europe.
I don't know that there's any clear-cut way to avoid extremism while also preserving freedom.
If you look at how the elections were conducted with county level governments effectively counting vote tallies without any serious claims of errors, that may offer a hint as to what might work: stronger local sources of news and journalism.
Social media ravaged the local news industry and exposed every hick town to the insanity of conspiracy theories. Better regulation of social media, investing in local news and journalism may be one way to allow towns to get back sources of information that they trust and believe.
In fact instead of the stupid “everyone learn to code” pipe dreams, more investments in local journalism may help revitalize smaller towns to a certain extent. Local journalists focus and investigate local issues; they improve the quality of state services.
