Why would you say that? Freenode users are just regular people, they just have freedom. How much freedom did Whatsapp users have to choose a different provider after Facebook bought the company?
Yes, (ex-)Freenode users are just regular people, but it is a self-selected group of people who value freedom, and are willing to put some extra effort in keeping it. That is, I think, what grandparent post meant by "Freenode users are not regular people, like Whatsapp users, who will just bend over and let stuff like this happen."
If WhatsApp users want to switch en masse to a new platform, they have to manually reconstruct their chat groups and their contact lists, install an entire new app, learn how to use the new app, work around any features that WhatsApp had which are now missing on their new platform, and probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.
If IRC users want to switch to a new server, just use the /server command. Done. Maybe you have to re-register your nick or channel. But the client is the same, the interface is the same, everything stays the same.
