☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: TikTok pushes back against potential U.S. ban
- New from Pew Research Center: New data on Americans’ news consumption habits, including on social media
- In other news: Meta and YouTube remove Russian state media accounts
- Looking ahead: Trial to decide future of Murdoch media companies begins next week
- Chart of the week: About 4 in 10 young adults in the U.S. now regularly get news on TikTok
🔥 Featured story
TikTok went to court Monday to challenge a law that requires its Chinese parent company to sell the app by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the United States. TikTok argued this violates First Amendment rights, while the U.S. government cited national security concerns linked to China. Both TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a ruling by Dec. 6 to allow time for the Supreme Court to consider an appeal.
Americans are more likely to believe a U.S. TikTok ban will not happen than to think it will. Half of Americans think it’s very or somewhat unlikely that TikTok will be banned in the U.S., according to a recent Center survey. By contrast, 31% say a ban is at least somewhat likely, including 6% who believe it is very likely. Another 19% are unsure whether TikTok will be banned.
TikTok has become an increasingly popular destination for news. The share of Americans who say they regularly get news from TikTok has grown from 3% in 2020 to 17% in 2024. Young adults stand out when it comes to turning to TikTok for news: 39% of adults under 30 say they regularly get news there.
🚨 New from Pew Research Center
Digital sources have become an important part of Americans’ news diets – with social media playing a crucial role, particularly for younger adults, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. This week, the Center added new 2024 data to our News Platform and Social Media and News fact sheets, which examine the ways in which Americans get news. Among the key findings:
- A large majority of U.S. adults (86%) say they at least sometimes get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet, and 58% say they prefer getting news this way over any other platform.
- Overall, just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media, up slightly compared with the last few years.
- In just four years, the share of adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has grown about fivefold, from 3% in 2020 to 17% in 2024.
Read more about the changing ways Americans are getting their news here:
📌 In other news
- Meta and YouTube remove Russia state media outlets for “foreign interference”
- Meta launches Instagram Teen Accounts to address concerns about social media’s impact on kids
- How an outlet focused on Haitians in the U.S. is reporting on Ohio rumors
- Guardian Media Group in talks to sell The Observer
- Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit journalism initiative, to expand to cover the entire U.S.-Mexico border
- Axel Springer to be split up in $15 billion deal
📅 Looking ahead
An upcoming trial in a Nevada court will help decide control of Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, including Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, after his death. A judge will decide whether Murdoch can change full control of his trust to his son Lachlan, rather than splitting control among Lachlan and three siblings. Rupert Murdoch has argued that giving control to Lachlan would maintain his companies’ conservative orientation and boost their financial prospects.
In a late 2019 survey, 16% of U.S. adults named Fox News as their main political news source; no other source was named by a higher share of Americans. Among those whose main news source was Fox News, an overwhelming majority (93%) said they identify with or lean toward the Republican Party.
📊 Chart of the week
Our chart this week highlights the growing share of U.S. adults who regularly get news on TikTok. Since 2020, no major social media platform has seen faster growth in the share of Americans who regularly turn to it for news, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis.
Young adults stand out when it comes to turning to TikTok for news: Today, 39% of adults under 30 say they regularly get news there, compared with much smaller shares of adults ages 30 to 49 (19%), 50 to 64 (9%) and 65 and older (3%).
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent.
Do you like this newsletter? Email us at journalism@pewresearch.org or fill out this two-question survey to tell us what you think.
