I don’t get why Europe (and the US) isn’t blocking TikTok. Feels naive or careless to think China isn’t using the algorithm to push or suppress info. Potentially they might take in requests from Russia, Iran, ...

Autonomy in a noisy world.
Training, Thinking, Building.

I just think algorithmic blocking is something governments shouldn't do, since its a slippery slope that leads to the government telling you what strings of 0s and 1s you can access.

Restricting access to speech and data is just not cool, and considering it would be a violation to force unpacking of cryptographic data without a warrant, you end up doing all of that for nothing.

The reality is people can VPN and download tik tok anyways, because that's how electrical signals encoding data works.

"Its not about blocking controlling information."

An app is a string of 0s and 1s, encoded by electrical signals in your phone, and the data is transmitted via these electrical signals in wires.

You're completely ignoring the physical facts here. "Banning/blocking" tik tok is very much a physics statement that you don't like a certain arrangement of 0s and 1s travelling through the electrical grid.

It's not about blocking/controlling information. 
All other platforms are still allowed. 
It's about taking away / reducing the power of a foreign adversary to use an algorithm against us.
China is openly talking about thought controlling crowds, and we are letting it happen.