Majority Of Americans Believe China Uses TikTok To Form US Public Opinion

US President Joe Biden used TikTok for the US Presidential Election campaign (photo: x @potus)

JAKARTA - A poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos as Washington draws closer to the potential ban on China's short video app, TikTok. The poll found that the majority of Americans believed China was using TikTok to form US public opinion.

A total of 58% of respondents in a two-day poll closed on Tuesday 30 April agreed with the statement that the Chinese government used TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, to "influence American public opinion." As many as 13% disagreed, and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see China use applications to influence US opinion.

TikTok said it had spent more than $1.5 billion on data security efforts and would not share 170 million US user data with the Chinese government. The company notified Congress last year that it was "not promoting or removing content at the request of the Chinese government."

US President Joe Biden last week signed a law granting ByteDance 270 days to release TikTok assets in the US or face bans.

TikTok vowed to challenge the ban as a violation of the protection of freedom of expression guaranteed in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. TikTok users are also expected to file lawsuits again. A US judge in Montana in November blocked the state's ban on TikTok, citing concerns about freedom of speech.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 50% of Americans supported the ban on TikTok, while 32% opposed the ban and the rest were unsure. Polls are only surveying US adults and do not reflect the views of people under the age of 18, which is a major part of TikTok users in the United States. About six of the 10 respondents aged 40 years and over supported the ban, compared to about four out of 10 aged 18-39.

Polls also show that 46% of Americans agree with the statement that China is using the app to "stalk on Americans daily," a charge Beijing denies.

Despite the question, the existence of TikTok in America is getting wider. Even Biden's re-nomination campaign uses it as a tool to win voters ahead of the November 5 presidential election. Biden's rival, Donald Trump, has criticized the potential ban and is the owner of the majority of the companies operating his social media app, Truth Social, has not yet joined.

The majority of Americans, 60%, say it is inappropriate for US political candidates to use TikTok to promote their campaigns.

Biden's signature of the law stipulates January 19 deadline for sales - one day before his term ends - but he could extend the deadline for three months if he assesses ByteDance is making progress in releasing the app.

Polls, conducted online, garnered responses from 1,022 US adults across the country and had a margin of error of about 3 percent.