- A poll released Friday showed that fewer than three in 10 Americans support a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month.
- The bill would ban the short-video app TikTok if Chinese ByteDance doesn’t divest it.
- A majority of respondents also had concerns about the security of TikTok and its rivals.
Only 28% of Americans support a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month that would ban the short-video-sharing app TikTok if Chinese ByteDancedo doesn’t sell the U.S. assets of the app.
The investigation
According to Savanta, a British-based market research firm behind the poll, half of the 2,000 Americans 18 and older surveyed opposed the bill, and only 28% supported it.
If it does get banned, most people said they would move on to other social media apps, especially YouTube and Instagram. However, some said they would continue to use TikTok even if it was banned.
In addition to TikTok, many respondents were concerned about the security of other social media companies in the United States.
Also read: US passes bill that could ban TikTok despite resistance from Trump
Also read: TikTok faces stagnant user growth in the US
Supporters of this bill
More than two-thirds of respondents said social media companies, including TikTok, must strengthen their protection of personal data, including measures to block acquisitions by foreign governments.
This has been an argument central to the support of the TikTok bill.
Supporters argue that TikTok, as a company owned by China’s ByteDance, may be sharing data with the Chinese government, with implications for U.S. homeland security.
This is despite the fact that there is little evidence to support these concerns so far.
The rapid growth of TikTok
TikTok, which has an estimated 102 million active U.S. users per month, is moving forward despite various political headwinds that have been pressured by the U.S. government.
According to Bloomberg, the company has set an ambitious target to grow its US shopping operation tenfold to US$17.5 billion in gross merchandise volume this year.
