Control the soul's desire for freedom

I heard this phrase on a report about the lockdown in Shanghai. There is footage of a drone flying between residential towers with a recording of a woman's voice saying, "控制灵魂对自由的渴望". I'm sure there is something lost in translation, but "Control the Soul's Desire for Freedom" is pretty close. It's so sinister a thing to make as a public announcement. It cuts deep to how we think of ourselves, as free creatures. No matter what society we live in, we aren't completely free. We have rules to follow, explicit rules codified in laws, social rules implied by culture, and so we do control our soul's desire for freedom. But, for a government to so explicitly state it carries menace, even in the face of a pandemic.