I'm not talking about logins, it's supposed to be encrypted. If I go to read news that is open to an unlimited number of people, there is no need for encryption: the information is open.
Kinda sorta. In transit most email is encrypted, the big mail providers all both speak and expect TLS encryption when moving mail. Almost everybody configures TLS encrypted IMAP if they use a client, or reads email over HTTPS
> A public invitation to protest against my authoritarian government should not turn on total paranoia mode
The expectations ordinary people have for how the web works are not met by the basic HTTP protocol. They need HTTPS to deliver those basic assumptions. Who decides the hours of the local bakery? Is it Jeff Bezos? HTTP says that seems fine, but HTTPS says no, the bakery gets to decide, not Jeff.
While the situation with emails is worse it does not mean it should be like that.