Poll shows fewer than 3 in 10 Americans support TikTok bill that would force Chinese owner to sell the app
- ‘Younger people – seen as key to the outcome of the presidential election – are particularly opposed,’ said a survey analyst
- A majority of respondents also had concerns about the security of TikTok and its rivals
Fewer than three in 10 Americans support the bill the US House of Representatives passed earlier this month that would ban TikTok, the short-video sharing app, if its Chinese owner does not divest it, according to a poll released on Friday.
Half of the 2,000 Americans 18 or older that Savanta surveyed opposed the bill while only 28 per cent supported it, according to Savanta, a British-based market research firm behind the poll. Most said they would switch to other social media apps, particularly YouTube and Instagram, adding that “their friends” would continue to use TikTok despite the ban.
“Our research suggests a striking concern from the US public about the ability of lawmakers to deliver and actually implement a ‘TikTok ban’,” said Ethan Granholm, research analyst at Savanta. “Younger people – seen as key to the outcome of the presidential election – are particularly opposed.”
While the headline numbers show strong support, answers to other questions showed that a majority of respondents had concerns about the security of TikTok and its rivals.
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More than two-thirds of them, for example, said that social media companies including TikTok must shore up their protection of personal data, including measures to block acquisitions by foreign governments.
