There is essentially nothing of value in /pol/. Serious commentary is swallowed by the endless sea of nazism and nazi-adjacent rhetoric.
There is no going back to pre-2016 times, it's seriously over. It's not even full of 20-somethings anymore, it has aged significantly.
As for a lack of filtering, that's not a thing, either. Janitors will remove your posts if they are left leaning and make too much sense. There is a serious manipulation effort.
Just as an aside, there is no need for them to lie about /pol/ is. /pol/ is less outrageous today because of the election, but here are some gems from /pol/ a week ago:
>A post about running over protesters and how hilarious that is >Abrahamic religion is a jewish plot to destroy the white race by turning them away from paganism >The FBI is a tool of the radical left in order to destroy America, you should get ready to kill protesters >People that are making fun of the hunter biden tapes are "tranny shills" trying to make us queer to destroy our masculinity
There is hardly any need to lie. The portrayal of /pol/ is accurate.