The TikTok logo is displayed outside TikTok offices on March 12, 2024, in Culver City, California. Photo: Mario Tama (Getty Images)
Only about 28% of Americans support banning TikTok, according to a new poll from market research firm Savanta. And while it remains to be seen whether the U.S. Senate will take up the so-called TikTok ban bill that passed the House earlier this month, this new poll will probably give lawmakers pause about the next steps.
The House bill, “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” passed on March 13 with a vote of 352 to 65, but without clear partisan distinctions. The bill would force TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance to divest from the app, something it’s signaled it has no intention of ever doing. If ByteDance either wouldn’t or couldn’t sell within six months, the app would be banned in the U.S.
But the new polling from Savanta suggests the 170 Americans who use TikTok believe they could find a way around the ban. Roughly 60% say “their friends” would continue using the app even if a ban were enacted, an interesting way to ask the question.
Americans
say
they’d
probably
increase
their
use
of
other
video-based
social
media
apps
like
YouTube
(34%)
and
Instagram
(30%)
if
they
truly
couldn’t
access
TikTok
anymore.
But
poll
respondents
didn’t
completely
abandon
the
idea
of
reform
from
TikTok.
About
69%
of
Americans
said
that
TikTok
and
other
social
media
companies,
“need
to
do
more
to
protect
their
personal
data,
including
from
foreign
governments.”
And
59%
said
that
social
media
companies
should
do
more
“to
tackle
harmful
speech
and
imagery
on
their
platforms.”
About
46%
said
they
were
concerned
about
the
idea
of
social
media
swinging
elections.
“Younger
people—seen
as
key
to
the
outcome
of
the
presidential
election—are
particularly
opposed,”
Ethan
Granholm,
a
research
analyst
at
Savanta,
told
Gizmodo
in
a
statement
over
email.
“Many
suggest
their
friends
would
simply
keep
using
the
app
if
they
can,
or
otherwise
switch
to
YouTube
and
Instagram,
who
are
set
to
be
the
real
winners
here.”
The
poll
was
conducted
among
2,000
Americans
18+
from
March
19-25,
not
long
after
the
U.S.
House
passed
its
legislation
a
week
earlier
on
March
13.
But
it
remains
to
be
seen
whether
the
bill
will
ever
become
law.
“While
TikTok
enjoys
public
support
right
now,
they
should
be
aware
there
are
real
concerns
about
how
they
use
personal
data,
with
some
already
suggesting
they
have
decreased
usage
of
the
app
as
a
consequence.
Consumers
may
well
vote
with
their
feet
before
lawmakers
do,
forcing
TikTok
to
act,”
Granholm
said.
Comments