That's what the Back button is for.

Less-technical users don't need to know how to cmd/ctrl-click on links because even less-technical users know how to use the Back button. If they don't want to use the Back button and instead want to open links in new tabs, there are multiple mechanisms available to them (whether they know about them or not).

The reverse is not true: if you don't want to open a link in a new tab, but that behavior is being forced on you, there is no way to avoid it.

Regardless of the motive, this behavior is not a UX improvement.