Maybe there's an argument for making masks illegal at protests (even though it doesn't
feel right) - but 10 years in prison just for showing up at a protest with a mask?! What's the penalty for actually vandalizing a store with a mask during a protest then? 30 years?
This penalty makes me think that it's just the government really not wanting people to protest, and trying to restrict protests as much as possible. The "western" governments are seeing what's happening in other countries and how easily revolutions could start now, so they are working on ways to limit protests and drastically punish protesters as soon as they show up for one, to try and prevent future such protests in their countries, too.
Too bad they don't realize that this will only make people increasingly angrier with their governments over time, and they're just asking for a violent revolution if they do that. The more they deny their citizens peaceful protests, and the more they back them into a corner, the more the citizens will feel like they have no choice but respond with violence at a mass protest (especially if there's police brutality). They're asking for it. Good democracies allow protests for a reason, but I think when certain politicians get to power, they forget why.