Is it common for this sort of company, though? I can see public-private partnerships making sense for infrastructure, for example, but a social media company? That just sounds like a way for a country to censor and push propaganda.
Governments are much better at free speech than companies are, the US government is much more for free speech than Facebook or Google or Apple or Microsoft is etc.
So it is common for Governments to cooperate with media to ensure they remain independent and not just push corporate propaganda, not just to push government propaganda.
It's not irrelevant. The parent claimed the US was taking after China; I'm mentioning that this is not uncommon in democracies and places not named China. If you pull anything else from my comment then you are reaching for something that isn't there.
It's always been like that at the top but starry eyed nerds were able to delude themselves into believing that it wasn't so. Now the veil is gone and people see how evil it really is and don't care because the money is right. Although I can't blame people, I made my money all the same.