It comes down to self-interest and the balance of power, not morals or human rights or any form of idealism that acts as a soft control of the masses.

Corporations are a faceless entity with tremendous power, both to harm and to benefit.

The average individual lacking comparative capital or influence has no weapon with which to fight and no gift which which to bribe.

Government, the monopolist of violence, wields its power accordingly. Why would it extinguish a benefactor when it can simply crack the whip to keep them in line and remind them of whose hand is on the whip in the first place? Whereas, the larger set of powerless individuals are handled brutally, not because it’s best but simply because it’s expedient and without consequence to the power-holder.

A secondary benefit, intentionally achieved by the most insidious of governments, is that the extinguishment of minor troublemakers removes the seeds from which a population might grow to realize their own latent power via cooperative “trouble-making”.