Thursday’s marathon TikTok hearing on Capitol Hill looked a lot like a rare show of unity in a divided Washington: Republicans and Democrats agreeing in public about the dangers of Chinese influence and pressing for the safety of American kids. Their tough grilling of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew offered political cover for President Joe Biden’s escalating effort to crack down on the popular video-sharing app.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman accused Senate Democrats who back a TikTok ban of stoking xenophobia and hurting the estimated 150 million Americans who use the app each month. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Pho

Thursday’s marathon TikTok hearing on Capitol Hill looked a lot like a rare show of unity in a divided Washington: Republicans and Democrats agreeing in public about the dangers of Chinese influence and pressing for the safety of American kids. Their tough grilling of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew offered political cover for President Joe Biden’s escalating effort to crack down on the popular video-sharing app.

But when it comes to anything happening next? Don’t hold your breath.

Despite the Republican tilt of Thursday’s hearing, which was convened by the GOP chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Democrats will largely decide what happens next to TikTok. The Biden administration is now demanding that the app’s Chinese owners sell it or face an outright ban on all U.S. devices. And the Democratic-controlled Senate has the most developed bill that would grant the White House more power to restrict TikTok and other risky foreign apps.

But Democrats remain far from united about what to do. As powerful senators push for aggressive action, some of the more tech-savvy Democrats — particularly in the House — are calling for restraint when it comes to a ban. And they’re instead pushing solutions that would also address the privacy and security risks posed by U.S.-based apps.

“TikTok has become a proxy in the escalating tensions with China,” said Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), a House E&C member who is wary of an outright ban on TikTok. Trahan said Congress “has a responsibility not to fall prey to tribalism or nationalism when it comes to tech policy” — and, she added, “we know there are companies in the U.S. that want TikTok to be banned.”

Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on E&C who peppered Chew with tough questions on Thursday, is also reluctant to back a nationwide ban on the Chinese-owned app. He’d prefer to talk about data privacy legislation instead.

“A lot of the abuses that I see with TikTok stem from the fact that they abuse the data that people have,” Pallone said on Wednesday. “I haven’t said that I’m for or against a ban. But I do think that if you only ban TikTok, you’re just going to see this happen on some other site.”

That argument was made explicit on Wednesday by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who emerged this week as TikTok’s top champion on Capitol Hill. Flanked by two of his fellow House Democrats and roughly two dozen TikTok “creators” flown to Washington by the social media giant, Bowman accused Senate Democrats who back a ban of stoking xenophobia and hurting the estimated 150 million Americans who use the app each month. And because TikTok users tend to skew younger, he warned against provoking a backlash that could land disproportionately on the Democratic Party.