A new U.S. law could effectively ban TikTok nationwide as early as January 2025 — and half of Americans are OK with that, with many citing concerns about data privacy and Chinese propaganda.
A majority of Americans (56%) have an unfavorable view of TikTok, and half support a nationwide U.S. ban on the app from China-based ByteDance, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
President Biden signed the “Protecting Americans’ Data From Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024” into law on April 24, after it passed in Congress with solid bipartisan support. The legislation requires ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok within nine months (with a potential 90-day extension to the deadline) to a party or parties not based in a country the U.S. designates a “foreign adversary” — and if it doesn’t, the distribution of TikTok would be outlawed.
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TikTok said it will launch a legal fight against the law on First Amendment grounds. If that’s unsuccessful, the ban will likely take effect, as ByteDance has said it does not plan to sell its interest in TikTok.
about 50% of Americans support a TikTok ban, while 32% oppose it and 18% are not sure. Just 31% of those 18-34 say they are in favor of a ban, and 50% say they oppose it. Most Americans 35-54 (54%) and 55 and older (60%) say they support a ban of the app.
about 55% of Americans believe that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, uses the app to sway public opinion in the United States. In addition, 46% think that the Chinese government uses TikTok to spy on Americans (16% say they do not think this is the case; 37% are unsure), per the Ipsos/Reuters poll. In addition, 58% think the Chinese government uses TikTok to influence American public opinion, while 13% do not think this is the case and 28% are not sure.
In remarks last week before the vote on the TikTok divest-or-ban bill, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee,suggested TikTok and ByteDance are “weaponizing” data and AI to spy on Americans, including journalists covering the company. In 2022, ByteDance said itfired four employees for “misconduct” after the company found they accessed TikTok data on several users, including two reporters.
about 90% of those polled believe content creators would migrate to alternative platforms if TikTok were banned. In addition, 45% said they worry a TikTok ban would negatively impact small businesses or performing artists, and 46% agree that a ban would infringe free-speech rights.
The Ipsos poll was conducted April 29-30 on behalf of Reuters based on a representative sample of 1,022 U.S. residents 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.
