Data gathering does have its dangers. But giving a not so friendly power the ability to directly influence your citizens is the real danger. There is no way to minimize that other than to have control over the whole enterprise.

Right now the EU is feeling the shock of giving Russia control over its fuel needs. Something that many people thought could happen but at least in that situation Russia does not have the ability to directly influence the EU's citizens. If it could influence minds directly, Russia could be confident that it would win the conflict. Tik Tok is that influencing machine that can be used against the US. We need to do something before it becomes a problem.