February 16, 2024
About equal shares support and oppose banning the social media app TikTok in the United States. However, 56% of adults favor a ban of TikTok on U.S. government devices, such as phones and computers used by government employees.
Those above the age of 30 are more likely to support bans on the use of TikTok, while 18- to 29-year-olds are more likely to oppose them.
About 6 in 10 adults are extremely or very concerned about the amount of time that children and teenagers spend on TikTok. Most adults also worry about the spread of misinformation on TikTok. About half are troubled by the idea that people will try to mimic dangerous or illegal actions they see on TikTok and are concerned that TikTok could share American users’ personal information with the Chinese government.
Last month, the CEOs of social media companies including TikTok, testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee about the effects of social media on young people’s lives.
Adults under the age of 30 are less likely to be extremely or very concerned compared with older adults about TikTok sharing U.S. users’ data with the Chinese government (35% vs. 58%), the spread of misinformation on the platform (46% vs. 63%), the amount of time children and teens spend on the app (52% vs. 65%) or that users will emulate dangerous or illegal behaviors they observe on the app (36% vs. 58%).
Daily users of TikTok are also less likely to be extremely or very concerned compared to those who utilize the platform less often or never when it comes to the potential for TikTok to share U.S. users’ data with the Chinese government (25% vs. 61%), the spread of misinformation on the app (41% vs. 64%), users emulating dangerous or illegal behaviors they observe on TikTok (35% vs. 58%), or the amount of time that children and teens spend on the platform (41% vs. 68%).
Sixty-five percent of adults have heard or read at least some about TikTok. Those over the age of 60 are less likely to be familiar with the social media platform, with 50% hearing only a little or nothing about TikTok compared with 28% of adults ages 18 to 59. Twenty-one percent of all adults use TikTok at least daily. Black and Hispanic adults, 18- to 29-year-olds, women, and those without a college degree are more likely to use TikTok on a daily basis.
The nationwide poll was conducted January 25-29, 2024 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,152 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.0 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (February 2024). “Most adults support banning TikTok on government devices” https://apnorc.org/projects/most-adults-support-banning-tiktok-on-government-devices/
