National security interests are the interests of the people though.

In a broad sense, sure, but "national security interests" are a huge excuse for bad policy.

assuming I’m not leaking national security information

That only applies if you are in a position that has access to classified information, or have reason to believe that a certain piece of information is classified. If you acquire information without access to classified information (i.e. if you see something on government property with binoculars or something), you are free to share that information.

The US largely does not censor people using the power of the gov’t

Not individuals, sure, but there are backroom threats for journalists that can significantly impact what the average person sees. If you get a big enough audience, you'll start to see these threats.

Here's the press freedom index the RSF posts, and while the US is better than most, it's not at the top, and it's a big reason why I like to read news publications from other areas (Canada and UK).

And yes, China is way worse, that goes without saying. But that doesn't mean we should completely block them, it means we should be taking an active role in pointing out the propaganda so the world can see through their BS.

This isn’t a case of, “oh, both sides are the same”.

Never claimed it was.