They're doing something you don't like so the assumption is that it's illegal, but people aren't even sure what law it's supposed to be. And they're probably right that it's illegal, because there are so many laws that any given thing is a violation of any number of them. But that's the problem. If you actually enforced all of the laws on the books, everyone would be in jail.
The only reason they aren't is not that most people are violating precisely zero of the many thousands of laws they've never even heard of, it's strictly a lack of enforcement.
Which is where that attitude comes from: If the only reason anybody isn't in jail is that they haven't become a target and so nobody has bothered to look up which laws they're breaking, whether you broke a law or not is no longer relevant because the answer is always yes, and the thing that determines whether you go to jail is who your friends (or enemies) are.
If you want to get back to the rule of law, you need to get back to having only laws that ordinary people can understand, remember and follow.
The only reason they aren't is not that most people are violating precisely zero of the many thousands of laws they've never even heard of, it's strictly a lack of enforcement.
Which is where that attitude comes from: If the only reason anybody isn't in jail is that they haven't become a target and so nobody has bothered to look up which laws they're breaking, whether you broke a law or not is no longer relevant because the answer is always yes, and the thing that determines whether you go to jail is who your friends (or enemies) are.
If you want to get back to the rule of law, you need to get back to having only laws that ordinary people can understand, remember and follow.