I still don't fully understand what "tankie" means. I've heard it means authoritarian (as in, you're like the tanks rolling over people's rights) but I've also heard it can be sarcastic. So I ignore that in any context since it seems there isn't a clear consensus on the term yet.

In 2025, it just means "person who opposes the West." It doesn't even mean authoritarian or fake socialist anymore. India is technically a socialist secular democratic republic going by the Indian Constitution, but when's the last time you've heard people call Modi supporters tankies? Why do Assad supporters get called tankies while Modi supporters don't? The only meaningful difference between the two is that Assad and his supporters oppose the West while Modi and his supporters don't.