But in practice, that means the only global social network—one that is accessible in both the US and in China—is one that agrees to Chinese censorship laws. IMO, this is a massive backfire to the purpose of freedom of speech.

paradox of intolerance rears it's head up again.

Yes? That’s how it works. Because as soon as you act like the enemy, you’re no different from them.

An America without TikTok is still vastly more free than China. Our constitution is not a suicide pact.

Isn't there a totally separate TikTok for China?

>TikTok, whose mainland Chinese and Hong Kong[3] counterpart is Douyin,[a][4] is a short-form video hosting service (...)

>While TikTok and Douyin share a similar user interface, the platforms operate separately.[28][4][29] Douyin includes an in-video search feature that can search by people's faces for more videos of them, along with other features such as buying, booking hotels, and making geo-tagged reviews.[30]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok

So I think even TikTok (app for non-China markets) isn't available in China.

Yep, liberalism is hard. More breaking news at 10.

Plenty of countries don't have the First Amendment that are still liberal democracies that adhere to more or less free trade principles. The PRC does it because they are totalitarian State subject to the control of the Communist Party of China and their censorship regime does not stop at the border:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_censorship_abroad

Do Americans really have a 1st amendment anymore?

If social media sites had identity proofing (e.g. IAL2) and you can definitely say who is saying what - then you can talk

A) About “Americans”

B) Freedom of Speech

If TikTok bans a post from user846859347 which American’s freedom of speech are we talking about. 98.65% of shit on TT is bot-generated propaganda and removing it isn’t violating anyone’s freedom of speech

Yes, which is why you hear them unabashedly complaining about their government nonstop.

Compared to China? Absolutely. Ask Gedhun Choekyi Nyima