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Popular video app TikTok is getting a hard time in the United States.

It is said that TikTok owned and managed by Chinese company ByteDance can be used as a propaganda tool and poses a national security risk.

Furthermore, data can be mined and used by the Chinese Communist Party

As many as 170 million Americans, almost half the population use TikTok. It has been a phenomenal hit known for cats playing an organ, and general silliness – in other words, light entertainment.

But Americans see its more sinister side and Congress has now voted 352 to 62 to ban it. President Biden says he will sign the Bill if it comes across his desk. It now goes to the Senate.

There is definitely an anti-Chinese sentiment in corporate America and this can escalate into a vicious trade war. The fear of Chinese technology is apparent and that has been levelled particularly at Huawei, a significant player in the world of smartphones. Electric car maker BYD will encounter difficulties in gaining aces to the lucrative American market.

There are those who say banning Tik Tok will backfire as young Americans will abstain from voting at the November presidential election. With Donald Trump opposed to banning TikTok, many may opt to give him their support in protest. One think is clear, you can’t afford to ignore the young if you want to win at the ballot box.

Many young Americans spend an inordinate amount of time on TikTok and it is the bane of many parents. There are those who are caught in the algorithmic web, and it stunts their productivity.

The Chinese version of Tik Tok is better monitored, with kids only allowed to be on it for 40 minutes a day. Perhaps this should be applied to the American version.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said: “ Even though the U.S. has not found evidence how TikTok endangers national security, it has never stopped going after TikTok.

“Such practices as resorting to acts of bullying when one cannot succeed in fair competition, disrupts the normal operations of the markets. It undermines the confidence of international investors. It sabotages the economic and trade order. This will eventually backfire on the U.S. itself.”

You can see why he views this move as anti-competitive and he may very well have a point. Looking on, China will regard this as America making a move to own the data from Tik Tok and not a Chinese company. Question is, will an American company now buy Tik Tok?

This U.S. Congressional vote may force TikTok to divest itself of its Chinese ownership or be banned in the U.S..

That’s a tough one for ByteDance and its CEO Shou Zi Chew.

The modern world is yet to be familiar with a Chinese company that has a global impact. In many ways, TikTok was China’s shot.

Instead, it has been harried and vilified.

The U.S., Canada, U.K., New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden and the E.U. recently banned TikTok from government phones.

At one time 200 million people were using TikTok in India before it was banned in that country for fear that the Chinese government had access to data.

TikTok will never be acclaimed like companies such as Meta, Twitter (now X),Snap Chat, rather it will be a pariah of the technological/communication world.

Is it fair? Is this a case of protectionism?

One thing for sure is that this latest move will ratchet up already heightened tensions.

“ Any company that collects this amount of sensitive personal information from this many Americans is going to pose data privacy and security risks. So there are still many other avenues for bad actors and foreign governments to access this information.

“A sale would solve the question of ownership but wouldn’t necessarily make personal information safer,” said researcher Caitlin Chin Rothmann, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.