The local officials (the mayor, legislators, and the president) where I live are all elected and I'm pretty sure that's already more than what China has

I think what I said is still true.

There's a lot of handwaving in your reply that China's population are just ignorant and censorship exists therefore its bad, based on little info. All Western countries also have major systems of censorship on social media. The majority of people in China have access to the internet via unfiltered VPNs - they have basically as much free access to information as you do.