>Am I supposed to tell my government to block American apps so that I can compete with American apps or on "national security" grounds?

The primary motive is to curb propaganda. If all the countries in the world blocked data collection, businesses all over would stop data collection.

>You're pitting the government against TikTok because your company cannot compete fairly

Perhaps. But if the new competing app also collects data, the govt. ought to shut it down. Ultimately, I want data collection to stop.

>It may very well turn out that their way of governance is better

Governance is different from protecting basic human rights. An authoritarian government is a danger to the whole world. You can see that already happening with Turkey.