Due to freedom of speech being a core value of democracy and censorship/information control being a core value of authoritarianism.

Fair point. Banning a social media platform because of topics discussed though seems like a dangerous precedent to set. Seems like a free speech issue to me though.

I think most people are aware of the CCP influence on TikTok. I hope reports like these make people question if they’re being manipulated on the platform. People should always question the validity of the media they consume.

citizens rejecting foreign propaganda is a solid display of strength

Statistics and large numbers say that citizens will not do anything uniformly.

It would be nice if people universally rejected smoking, but there are social/economic benefits to banning it because statistics.