To play devil’s advocate here, I think it’s necessary for a social media platform to exist that’s outside the control of the US government. Just because we have the first amendment here that doesn’t mean our speech is protected, just look at what happens when protesters do it the “wrong” way.

Does that mean China gives a shit about our freedoms? No. They just won’t be forced into censoring things the US would want though, and the gap between their opposing hegemonic ambitions is where people can truly say what they want about the US in certain topics. While it’s true the CCP is data mining American citizens, their reach to compromise individuals is dwarfed by what US companies can do already.