TikTok ban: Social media app finds itself at the centre of growing US ...

The bill now heads to the Senate, where support is far from assured. The company could also launch a legal challenge to the legislation, arguing that it violates the First Amendment protection of free speech.

Of course, rival social media giants, particularly those that offer short-form video platforms such as Facebook’s parent, Meta, Snap and Alphabet will be the likely beneficiaries if TikTok is banned in the US. TikTok generated an estimated $US6 billion ($9.1 billion) in US advertising revenue last year.

But a ban could trigger retaliation from Beijing that could hurt companies such as Apple and Tesla that do a lot of business in China.

Fears that TikTok poses a national security risk to the US comes amid mounting trade and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing. The Biden administration has made efforts to reduce US reliance on China by bolstering domestic production of critical goods such as semiconductors and high-capacity batteries.

But TikTok is far from the only national security concern for US politicians.

A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes used at US container terminals discovered communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations.

There are worries that the giant ship-to-shore cranes made by the Chinese manufacturer ZPMC contain sophisticated sensors that could give Beijing the ability to monitor all shipments in and out of the US. In some cases, the cranes also contained cellular modems capable of being accessed remotely.

ZPMC, which is part of the state-controlled China Communications Construction Company, makes about 80 per cent of the cranes used at US container terminals.

In response to the threat of espionage and disruption posed by the Chinese-made cranes, the Biden administration last month announced it would be allocating more than $US20 million over the next five years to improve cybersecurity at ports – and to manufacture more cranes domestically.