Because internet commentators want to pass off their uninformed xenophobia as advocacy for democracy and the people of countries they despise and want to undermine the national interest of. For instance Ken Klippenstein referred to the Iranian President as an authoritarian dictator.
Schildi Chat is probably the best client I have spotted, full voice and video chat functionality in browser. People do way less hemming and hawing about downloading an app if they’ve already been able to try it out in web - just like discord