A Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that 58% of American respondents believe that China uses TikTok as a tool to influence public opinion.
TikTok's 270 days of negotiation are currently running after President Joe Biden signed the legislation that could ban the social media giant in the U.S.
Americans See TikTok as a Chinese Influencer Tool
While the majority of the respondents agreed that the Chinese government is using TikTok to stir American public opinion, only 13% disagreed. The remaining percentage were unsure or chose to not answer the questions.
The poll results also shared that Republicans are more firm that China is using the app to its advantage compared to Democrats. Moreover, 50% of Americans are now supportive of the ban, leaving 32% for the opposition, and the rest uncertain.
The Reuters/Ipsos study gathered data from American adults, hence, the results do not reflect the opinions of people under 18 years old, who are considered the majority of the TikTok population. The poll also revealed that users who are aged 40 and older tend to support the ban compared to people aged 18 to 39.
The online poll analyzed 1,022 responses from U.S. adults nationwide with around 3% margin of error.
TikTok, ByteDance Accused as Chinese Spy Tool
Around 46% of the participants shared their belief that TikTok is an app used by the Chinese government to spy on the daily lives of Americans. Beijing has previously denied this accusation.
Moreover, TikTok stated that more than $1.5 billion was spent on data security efforts, citing that the platform has no intention to share the data of its 170 million U.S. users with China.
Prior to the signing of the legislation, Biden joined TikTok to promote his re-election campaign, a move that was heavily criticized by Republican Donald Trump. 60% of the respondents stated that it was inappropriate for any political candidates to use the platform for campaigns.
