A poll on Wednesday showed that Americans narrowly support a House bill that would ban the TikTok platform unless it was sold to a company with no ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
A Quinnipiac University poll found that 51% of Americans support the bill, compared to 41% who support a complete national ban. 47% of voters said they opposed the latter move.
But by age, younger Americans are far more likely to defend access to TikTok. Among 18- to 34-year-olds, 60% opposed the House bill, while only 35% supported it.
Quinnipiac conducted the poll between March 21 and March 25 through telephone interviews, including both cell and landline calls. The survey included 1,569 U.S. adults and reported a margin of error of 2.5%.
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A poll on Wednesday showed that Americans narrowly support a House bill that would ban the TikTok platform unless it was sold to a company with no ties to the Chinese Communist Party. (Fox News Digital)
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a bill requiring TikTok to break away from the Chinese Communist Party’s control or face a ban in the United States.
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The bill was sponsored by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House China Select Committee, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and is being sponsored by parent company ByteDance. If they don’t withdraw from TikTok, they will block it in the US. Within 165 days after passage. It would also require purchases by countries that are not adversaries of the United States.
The bill, spearheaded by House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, would block TikTok in the U.S. if parent company ByteDance does not withdraw from the service within 165 days of its passage. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Critics of TikTok have long called the social media app a national security threat. They cite concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to use its power over ByteDance to access sensitive user data, even within the United States, which the company denies.
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China hawks also warn that the app is gaining popularity among young Americans and is giving the ruling Chinese Communist Party a platform for a massive influence campaign.
Opponents of the bill, including young people and activists, flooded Congress with calls and messages urging it not to restrict TikTok before a vote this month. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the bill’s lead co-sponsors, said: told Fox News Digital The congressman’s office also responded to calls from people threatening suicide, he said.
Rep. Chip Roy said the ferocity with which TikTok defenders attacked the team’s phones made him wonder, “Maybe we’re in an AA meeting.”
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“The TikTok got everyone excited, and then we had thousands of people calling our office. We even had a kid call saying he was going to commit suicide. ‘I’ve been doing this all day every day. “Some people call me and say, ‘I’m here.'” “You can’t take this away from me,” Roy said at the time. “It’s like being called to an AA meeting.”
The bill passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 352-65.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report
