Said not one surgeon, OR nurse or scrub tech that I scrubbed in with while doing clinicals, ever. Nor any fellow wafer fab technician two years later.
Plugged filters, say in an N95 mask, could probably cause breathing issues, particularly from overheating. I did see where someone claimed that they developed pleurisy from repeatedly wearing the same mask, but I think that was fake news. Hot summer days can't help, either.
As to the freedom question? Try going into a WalMart without a mask. I mean, they just arrested McAfee for wearing a lace thong as a mask, apparently. Maybe Norway can shed some light on why that was.