Here are three things that are simultaneously true. One, there is no more serious threat to freedom in the world than the present Chinese regime. Two, TikTok can turn people’s minds into susceptible mush. Three, Congress is making a mistake by forcing TikTok’s Chinese owners sell their U.S. operation under threat of closure.

Let’s consider those three propositions in turn. When I describe China as a threat to freedom, I don’t simply mean that it is a strategic adversary like Russia or Iran. I mean that it has developed a societal model that is both inimical to personal liberty and capable of being exported.