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Concerns about TikTok have been around for years and many of the accusations seem to ring hollow. In 2020, US courts overturned the Trump administrations ban on TikTok and WeChat, citing insufficient evidence of national security concerns and a likely overreach of authority. Since then, TikTok has invested significantly in ensuring tighter compliance with US laws, including housing all of its US data with Oracle, an American company. Also, while ByteDance was founded in China, it is 60 per cent owned by US multinationals including Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group Susquehannas co-founder Jeff Yass also happens to be the biggest donor in the US presidential election. As for TikToks data gathering, well, so do the other big tech companies and apps, including Google and Facebook.

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Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide

Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide

TikTok came under the spotlight for carrying a significant amount of pro-Palestinian content when other social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, were accused of suppressing pro-Palestinian voices. For instance, TikToks videos with the #standwithpalestine hashtag were viewed nearly 15 times as often as its #standwithisrael content.

Concerned pro-Israel lobbyists in the US have confronted TikTok officials and pushed for the company to address what they saw as a growing antisemitic movement being hosted on the platform. Among those openly supporting the TikTok bill is the Jewish Federations of North America, which represents hundreds of organised Jewish communities.

A similar divide is seen among the liberal politicians, with some Democrats voting against the bill and warning that a TikTok ban could alienate young Democratic supporters, many of whom are TikTok users. TikToks many content creators in the US, many of whom earn money from their videos, are also lobbying for the bill to be rejected.

Can ByteDance have its TikTok cake and eat it too?

Even if the bill is passed by Senate, ByteDance will have six months to sell TikTok, failing which the app will then face a ban. If it came to it, such a sale would be extremely difficult, given what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar price tag as well as the hurdles of US antitrust laws and Chinese government approval.

The debate over a TikTok ban has stirred fierce feelings that defy the traditional conservative vs liberal divide, highlighted the controversy over the coverage of events in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and focused attention on the culture wars in America. Whatever the outcome, there is little hope of pleasing the crowd.

Mohammed Sinan Siyech is a doctoral candidate at the Islamic and Middle East Studies Department at the University of Edinburgh and a non-resident associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

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Fiery debate over TikTok ban puts Americas culture wars in spotlight - South China Morning Post