Did you try on multiple servers and experience the same? I've just given it a go and it looked fine—PC Europe.
Since 2020 there has been a server-side bug which triggers seemingly at random, it breaks a lot of game components for players (e.g. the kill log, deploy camera transitions, vehicle sounds, danger markers, flare radii on the minimap, etc.), and it also breaks spectator mode entirely. When a server is in this bugged state spectators load into the game under the map, with no UI at all, and no-clip.
I suspect this is what you experienced. Very annoying bug that would be nice if it were patched, but to be clear it's been present for years, it's not the fruit of some recent changes (again, assuming the bug you experienced is the one I'm thinking of).