Not only that, steemit can be used to spread news and information without a fear of being censored. I found this article today on steemit:https://steemit.com/news/@cryptonik/facebook-censorship-users-in-romania-see-protest-related-posts-reviewed
Imagine what would happen if the Chinese and North Koreans got into steemit in droves. Combine steemit with something like https://substratum.net/ and we'd get a real government propaganda killer. Without propaganda, governments are just thugs with guns without means to cover up that fact.
Also for a long term project, there is MadiSafe which is actually older than Bitcoin itself.
The lack of censorship cannot be understated. We take it for granted in the US since there is at least the illusion of an open and free press. I guess this is worse than overt oppression since people believe they are receiving news freely when, in reality, it is propaganda.
There are many many avenues that STEEM can go to find growth. Ultimately, blockchain technology will open up new pathways to people all over the world. Freedom is one of the benefits of decentralization.
As we are seeing with the attack on BTC, the establishment cannot do anything about it other than to demonize it. Cryptocurrency is the first thing they are realizing that is shaking their foundation. I dont think they are at the point of realizing that the lack of censorship is also going to bite them in the butt.
Governments are always slow to adapt. When they finally adapt to Bitcoin, the privacy coins will rise. When they try to somehow meddle with privacy coins, steemit and other blockchain media platforms will bite them in the ass. In a way I'm glad that all the attention is on Bitcoin because better projects can go under the radar.