TikTok is in the cross hairs of Washington. A ban in the United States may be imminent. I think I know why: Sarah Cooper. The brilliant American comedian came to fame in recent months by mocking US President Donald Trump’s incorrigibly incoherent press briefings on the Covid-19 pandemic. The popular short video app from China has been her public platform of choice. If you can’t silence her, ban her app. Watch her, if you haven’t yet, but make sure your mouth is not full. Otherwise you would gag or spit everything out from uncontrollable laughs. It’s easy to understand why the most powerful man in the world might be incensed. He has always made known his displeasure at comedians targeting his antics, most notably Alec Baldwin imitating him on television. As much as I have tried, I can’t picture the Chinese social app being much of a threat to America’s national security. How do you weaponise the personal data of US teenagers and young adults, and their dating and partying habits? Maybe an imaginative Hollywood scriptwriter is already hard at work. But the way some US politicians describe TikTok, you would think it’s more dangerous than Huawei, the 5G networks supplier, and nuclear weapons. Why Western teens embraced Chinese social media app TikTok An amended national defence bill may soon be passed banning US federal employees from using TikTok on any government device. The app has been a global sensation and is particularly popular among teenagers and young adults in the US. About 60 per cent of its 26.5 million monthly active users in the US are between the ages of 16 and 24. “TikTok is a potential security menace,” Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said people should use TikTok “only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party”. Multiple security agencies are investigating TikTok after Senate minority leader Charles Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican, demanded a full-scale probe into the social app. Hopefully, investigators will now have a better understanding of their children’s social life to improve family relations. If Americans can ban TikTok , they can ban any Chinese company. The Washington-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation warned that “foreign tech companies should not be kept out of the US market because of rumours and innuendo”. But that’s how policies are made in Washington nowadays, especially if they deal with China – “rumours and innuendo”.