A majority of Americans view the popular Chinese app TikTok as a Chinese tool aimed at influencing and shaping public opinion in the United States, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
About 58% of respondents agreed that the Chinese government is using TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, to “influence public opinion in the United States,” while 13% disagreed and the rest were unsure. It is said that the person is either unable to hold it or did not respond.to report According to Reuters.
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok Inc., during an interview at TikTok’s offices in New York, U.S., Thursday, February 17, 2022. (Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg/Getty)
Meanwhile, 46% of Americans agreed that China is using TikTok to “spy on ordinary Americans.”
The survey also found that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe that China is using apps to influence public opinion in the United States. Furthermore, 50% of Americans supported banning TikTok, while 32% opposed the ban. The rest I wasn’t sure about.
Additionally, a majority of Americans (60%) say it is inappropriate for U.S. political candidates to use Chinese apps to promote their campaigns.
Notably, the survey only looked at adult respondents in the United States, so the opinions of U.S. children and teens under 18, a demographic that makes up a significant portion of U.S. TikTok users, are not included. This is not clear from the results.
Furthermore, 6 in 10 respondents aged 40 and over support banning TikTok, while only 4 in 10 respondents aged 18 to 39 support it.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and collected responses from 1,022 American adults across the country. The survey reportedly had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.
As reported by Breitbart News, several former TikTok employees have filed a “front door” over the company’s claims that it is blocking U.S. user data from ByteDance, which is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Only applied and the app left the back door wide open.
President Joe Biden signed a bill last week forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok within nine months (by January 19). Otherwise it would face a ban in the US.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reacted to the Divestment or Ban bill by saying that the Chinese parent company plans to use U.S. law against the United States to fight the Divestment or Ban bill in court. “The Constitution is on our side,” he declared. ”
Meanwhile, ByteDance has said it would prefer TikTok to be shut down in the U.S. if its legal challenges fail in court.
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