The ‘Ban TikTok’ movement is losing steam among Americans

Declining support for the TikTok ban is happening across party lines. The share of Republicans who want to ditch TikTok fell from 60 percent in March 2023 to 42 percent in the July and August poll. Those numbers fell from 43 percent to 24 percent over the same time period among Democrats. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have been active on TikTok this election cycle as the app has emerged as an important source of news for young Americans.

In the end, changing support for a ban may not matter. President Joe Biden signed a bill in April that gives TikTok owner ByteDance until January to withdraw from its US apps or be removed from the Apple and Google Play app stores.

The law, included in a foreign aid package, was the culmination of a multi-year effort to ban or force the sale of TikTok. US officials from both sides have expressed concern that ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, could be forced to share US user data with the Chinese Communist Party to comply with an information law. Some have expressed concern that TikTok could be used as a tool to spread information favorable to the Chinese government. The US government has not provided the public with evidence that either action took place.

TikTok is currently challenging the seizure or ban law, but faces an uphill battle in the courts as it tries to counter Congress’s national security argument with a free speech defense.

“The First Amendment is the trump card that basically allows you to prevail if you can plausibly make a case for the First Amendment,” said GS Hans, associate clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School and associate director of its First Amendment Clinic. Business Insider in April. “National security is also an asset, and the government often wins when it supports that. The question for me is, which asset does the court find to be more valuable?”

Despite a tough road ahead for the short-video app, half of US adults told Pew they think TikTok is unlikely to be banned. Thirty-one percent of respondents said a ban was likely, and 19% were not sure either way.

The outcome of the 2024 presidential election will play a role in TikTok’s future in the US, as the divestment or ban bill has a clause that allows the president to extend the divestment deadline by 90 days. Former President Trump once tried to ban or force the sale of TikTok, but recently backed down from the issue. Vice President Harris did not share a position on the TikTok ban.

Support for keeping TikTok was much stronger among people who actually used the app than those who didn’t have it on their phones, according to the Pew poll.

While only 10% of US adult TikTok users supported a government ban in the July and August poll, 42% of US adults who said they had not used the app supported a ban.