Close to half of Americans favor TikTok ban -Reuters/Ipsos poll
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[August 17, 2023]
By Michael Martina and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Close to half of American adults support a ban on
the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos
survey that also asked questions about national security concerns and
China.
TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance and used by tens of
millions of Americans, has faced calls from U.S. lawmakers for a
nationwide ban over concerns about possible Chinese government
influence.
Some 47% of respondents to the two-day poll, which concluded on Tuesday,
said they at least somewhat supported "banning the social media
application, TikTok, from use in the United States," while 36% opposed a
ban and 17% said they didn't know.
Fifty-eight percent of Republicans favored a ban, compared to 47% of
Democrats, the poll showed.
The survey also revealed deep worries among Americans about China's
global influence at a time when U.S.-China relations have fallen to
their lowest point in decades.
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The online Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted nationwide, collecting
responses from 1,005 adults, including 443 Democrats and 346
Republicans. It had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of
about 4 percentage points in either direction.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in March that China's government
could use TikTok to control software on millions of devices and drive
narratives to divide Americans, adding that the app "screams" of
national security concerns.
Other top U.S. intelligence officials, including CIA Director William
Burns, also have said TikTok poses a threat.
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U.S. flag and TikTok logo are seen in
this illustration taken, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File
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TikTok said in a statement that more than 150 million Americans,
including 5 million U.S. businesses, actively use TikTok to earn a
living, engage in the classroom, and find community.
"We've taken unprecedented actions to safeguard protected U.S. user
data, and we will continue working to build a safe, secure, and
inclusive platform to ensure the positive experience of our users in
every corner of the country," a TikTok spokesperson said.
Efforts to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok
have stalled in Congress. Last month U.S. lawmakers said they were
considering changes to address concerns about the bill.
Still, the issue could become a focus for Republicans in the 2024
U.S. presidential campaign, with some candidates backing a TikTok
ban.
Former President Donald Trump in 2020 sought to bar new downloads of
TikTok but a series of court decisions blocked the ban from taking
effect.
Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has said he
favors some form of national ban on the app.
(Reporting by Michael Martina, David Shephardson and Jason Lange;
Editing by Don Durfee, Sharon Singleton and David Gregorio)
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