Many know it as the platform of choice for people who love to share videos of themselves dancing, or, say, combing the fur of their toy poodles. But, to hear politicians and late night talk show hosts discuss TikTok, lately, you’d think the app was a one-way ticket to political and social chaos.

It all kicked off, last week, when the American House of Representatives passed a bill that - should it become law - would require the Chinese company that owns TikTok to sell it to an American interest. Otherwise, the app would face being banned in the United States.

Today, Bruce Wolpe, a former American congressional staffer, and now a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre, on what lit the fuse on this geopolitical explosion. And whether Australia is likely to follow suit, with its own TikTok ban