Americans favor the proposed U.S. government ban on TikTok by a 2:1 margin.
WHY IT MATTERS – In late March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about concerns over data privacy, which have put the Chinese-owned video-sharing app under increased scrutiny.
A CHINA-BASED COMPANY – The new survey also asked Americans if they were aware that TikTok is owned by the China-based company ByteDance
- More than 60 percent of Americans are aware that TikTok is owned by Byte Dance
SUPPORT FOR THE BAN – A new Pew Research Center survey asked Americans if they were in support of the United States Government banning TikTok.
Ages 18-29
- 46 percent –Oppose
- 29 percent – Support
Ages 30-49
- 25 percent –Oppose
- 45 percent – Support
Ages 50-64
- 15 percent – Oppose
- 54 percent – Support
Ages 65+
- 4 percent – Oppose
- 71 percent – Support
Republican/ Lean Republican
- 19 percent – Oppose
- 60 percent – Support
Democrat/ Lead Democrat
- 25 percent – Oppose
- 43 percent – Support
SOCIAL MEDIA SKEPTICISM – The new survey also asked Americans how confident they are that each type of social media company follows what their privacy policies say they will do with their personal information.
Chinese Social Media Companies
- 59 percent – Not at all confident
- 29 percent – Not too confident
- 9 percent – Somewhat confident
- 2 percent – Very confident
American Social Media Companies
- 32 percent – Not at all confident
- 43 percent – Not too confident
- 21 percent – Somewhat confident
- 3 percent – Very Confident
BOTTOM LINE– More than twice the number of Americans support the U.S. government’s ban on TikTok than those who oppose it with over 60 percent of Americans aware that Byte Dance, a China-based company, owns TikTok.
GO DEEPER
PEW RESEARCH CENTER– By more than two-to-one, Americans support U.S. government banning TikTok
CBS News– Why TikTok faces bans in the U.S.