They didn’t, so it isn’t.
No it hasn't. People have been othered for either reason for millennia, and continue to be so. This is probably one of the safest eras for having an unpopular political view in the US. For example, try being accused of holding communist views during most of the 20th century.
People do this all the time. If their biggest complaint is being banned from privately owned social media companies, then they have it much better than the communists or anarchists of the past.