This. Potentially anybody could reach that level (or it could have been made possible for anyone to potentially reach it without favouritism by tweaking the criteria), but it took effort. People felt safer sharing because not every random trolley could see those posts and anyone who wanted to do damage based on those needed to play a long game.
I wasn’t on the “inside” for long, but what I saw was a supportive, welcoming group of people who cared about each other, even if they didn’t all like each other. This seems partly because everyone had gotten a chance to know who they were dealing with. This is basically the “trust” that the trust level engendered. ‘We trust you because you’ve been round long enough and revealed enough of yourself that we know who you are.’
Trust and feeling safe aren’t easy for vulnerable people on the Internet. I can see why a lot of people are mad, hurt, or feeling betrayed now that is being taken away.
