The obvious and rational response to what you’re saying is that the US government is an oppressive force on the internet (and elsewhere), just not as much as China, which is the most oppressive except for North Korea. Then I’d ask if being so low on the spectrum is acceptable, when the best that can be said is that it’s better than China and North Korea. Yemen for example, can happily boast that they have fewer guns per capita than the US, by an order of magnitude too! But um... how many people would leave the US for Yemen? Just comparing two countries in a narrow metric while ignoring context is unwise at best, deceptive at worst.

Moreover it does nothing to dispel concerns held by people who feel the US is an oppressive force online. They might for example, point out that while China oppresses their own citizens, the US has more of a global impact as a result of their foreign policy and massive corporations. If they then pointed out that you’re essentially comparing apples and oranges, and asked you why you thought that was an appropriate response to their concerns, you would say...?