The never-ending TikTok soap opera may finally be nearing some manner of resolution, albeit not one that’s especially amicable.

Earlier this week, reports indicated TikTok was considering a split with parent ByteDance in yet another bid to placate US regulators and pacify irritable lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Now, the White House has instructed ByteDance to sell its stake. Or else.

The Wall Street Journal originally reported the ultimatum on Wednesday evening, calling the move “a major shift in policy on the part of the administration,” and a concession to Republicans who’ve insisted on an uncompromising position vis-à-vis the national security threat many insist TikTok poses.

On Thursday, multiple outlets confirmed the news. Either ByteDance will sell its shares, or the Biden administration will ban the app. A spokesperson for TikTok told Reuters that CFIUS “demanded” the company’s Chinese owners sell their stake, under threat of a possible US ban.

There was a time when I was inclined to what counted as a conciliatory stance towards Xi Jinping, given that I think a little multilateralism wouldn’t be the worst thing for the world. However, between the Xinjiang issue and Xi’s turn for what amounts to totalitarianism, it’s very difficult to afford Beijing the benefit of the doubt. On anything, really.

It’s with that in mind that I’m compelled to agree with America’s China hawks that it’d be wholly naive to believe the Party, which runs a police state and, we’ve learned, an international spy balloon program, hasn’t at least considered availing itself of ByteDance’s data on ~100 million American TikTok addicts.

As Reuters pointed out Thursday, this marks the first time Biden threatened an outright ban. Donald Trump threatened all manner of consequences for TikTok and at one juncture tried to marry it off to political ally Larry Ellison.

TikTok is already banned from federal government devices, and dozens of US states have barred employees from using it on work phones. The White House this month supported legislation that empowered Biden to restrict foreign technology if it threatens national security. That could be key in the (very likely) event TikTok were to challenge a ban in court.

As spokesperson for TikTok said “The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting and verification, which we are already implementing.”

Forgive me, but no. The “best way” to ensure that an app isn’t feeding data back to the Chinese government is to ban that app entirely in the US. That isn’t debatable.

We can debate whether, in fact, there’s a national security threat in the first place, and it’s important the White House make clear to millions of young Americans what that threat is. But if we assume a threat exists, the most effective way to eliminate it is to… well, to eliminate it. That’s tautological.