Hmmm. The main difference between the Matrix Fdn publishing a spec (https://spec.matrix.org) made out of Matrix Spec Changes (https://spec.matrix.org/proposals) versus IETF only publishing RFCs is simply that the Matrix Fdn also maintains a consolidated version of the spec. I'm not sure that makes the protocol governance fundamentally more vulnerable to govt influence?
They said they were sure they forgot some of the nuance. UK company Element took server development from UK company Matrix Foundation would have been forgettable nuance. Or they evaluated Matrix before possibly.