“That distinction has to be demonstrated rather than assumed.”

The distinction was:

legitimate scholarly filtering vs problematic ideological gatekeeping.

You cannot say:

“My paper was rejected, therefore I was ideologically censored.”

You have to investigate:

• What were the stated reasons?
• Were similar papers treated similarly?
• Did the paper meet the journal's standards?
• Were the standards applied consistently?
• Were ideological considerations involved?
• Is there evidence of differential treatment?

Only then can you move from:

“My paper was rejected”

to:

“This appears to be ideological gatekeeping.”