--- title: "Support for a U.S. TikTok ban continues to decline, and half of adults doubt it will happen" description: "The share of Americans who support the U.S. government banning TikTok now stands at 32%, down from 38% in fall 2023 and 50% in March 2023." date: "2024-09-05" authors: - name: "Colleen McClain" job_title: "Senior Researcher" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/colleen-mcclain/" - name: "Wyatt Dawson" job_title: "Former Research Associate" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/wyatt-dawson/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/05/support-for-a-us-tiktok-ban-continues-to-decline-and-half-of-adults-doubt-it-will-happen/" categories: - "Platforms & Services" - "Political Issues" - "TikTok" datasets: - name: "American Trends Panel Wave 150" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/american-trends-panel-wave-150/" --- # Support for a U.S. TikTok ban continues to decline, and half of adults doubt it will happen ![A photo illustration TikTok logo displayed on a cellphone in front of U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_feature.png?w=640) *A photo illustration TikTok logo displayed on a cellphone in front of U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)* As public support for a TikTok ban continues to decline, many U.S. adults are skeptical or unsure such a ban will happen, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted July 15-Aug. 4, 2024. [![A line chart showing that support for a TikTok ban has declined to 32% among U.S. adults.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_1.png?w=400)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=186294) **The share of Americans who support the U.S. government banning TikTok now stands at 32%. **That’s down from 38% in fall 2023 and 50% in March 2023. Meanwhile, 28% of Americans oppose a ban, up from 22% in March 2023. And the share who say they are uncertain whether the government should ban the platform has risen from 28% in March 2023 to 39% now. These findings come as TikTok’s fate in the United States continues to be uncertain. President Joe Biden [signed a bill](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/23/tech/congress-tiktok-ban-what-next/index.html) in April that requires ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell it or face a ban in the U.S. Challenges to this law are now [headed to the courts](https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-hear-challenges-potential-tiktok-ban-september-2024-05-28/). Below we’ll look more closely at: - [How Republicans and Democrats feel about a TikTok ban](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/05/support-for-a-us-tiktok-ban-continues-to-decline-and-half-of-adults-doubt-it-will-happen/#views-of-a-tiktok-ban-by-political-party) - [How TikTok users and nonusers feel about a ban](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/05/support-for-a-us-tiktok-ban-continues-to-decline-and-half-of-adults-doubt-it-will-happen/#views-of-a-ban-by-use-of-tiktok) - [How likely Americans think a ban is](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/05/support-for-a-us-tiktok-ban-continues-to-decline-and-half-of-adults-doubt-it-will-happen/#do-americans-think-a-tiktok-ban-will-happen) Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand Americans’ views about a potential TikTok ban in the United States. For this analysis, we surveyed 10,658 adults from July 15 to Aug. 4, 2024. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Surveys were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. [Read more about the ATP’s methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/the-american-trends-panel/). Here are the [questions used for this analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_questionnaire.pdf), [the topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_methodology.pdf). #### Views of a TikTok ban by political party Even amid the decline in support for banning TikTok, views remain divided by political party. [![Line charts showing that support for a TikTok ban continues to fall in both parties, but Republicans remain more likely to back this than Democrats.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_2.png?w=640)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=186295) Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are far more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to support a ban (42% vs. 24%). Still, support for a ban has dropped substantially* within* each party. In March 2023, 60% of Republicans and 43% of Democrats said they supported the government banning TikTok. The partisan differences that persist today are also present in other questions we’ve asked about TikTok. For example, a May 2023 Center survey found that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to [view TikTok as a national security threat](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/10/majority-of-americans-say-tiktok-is-a-threat-to-national-security/). #### Views of a ban by use of TikTok [![Line charts showing that Americans who aren’t on TikTok have become far less supportive of banning it since March 2023.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_3.png?w=620)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=186296) With [U.S. adults’ use of TikTok on the rise](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use/#tiktok-sees-growth-since-2021), we’ve also been tracking how views of a ban differ depending on whether people use the platform. As was true in previous surveys, attitudes vary dramatically: - **TikTok users** are far more likely to oppose (61%) than support (10%) a ban, with 29% unsure. - **Those who don’t use TikTok** are about as likely to support a ban (42%) as to be uncertain (43%), while 15% are opposed. Support for a ban has decreased within both groups between March 2023 and now. Among U.S. adults who don’t use TikTok, support has fallen sharply, from 60% in March 2023 to 42%. And among users, it’s fallen from 19% to 10% over that period. At the same time, those who don’t use TikTok have become more uncertain about a ban. #### Do Americans think a TikTok ban will happen? For the first time, we measured public views on the likelihood of TikTok getting banned in the U.S. Americans are more likely to believe this will *not* happen than to think it will. [![A diverging bar chart showing that half of Americans doubt TikTok will be banned in the U.S.; Republicans, Democrats are similarly skeptical.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_4.png?w=640)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=186297) Half of Americans think it’s very or somewhat *unlikely* that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. By contrast, 31% say a ban is at least somewhat likely, including 6% who believe it is very likely. Another 19% say they are unsure whether TikTok will be banned. *Views by political party* Even as Republicans are more likely to support a ban, they’re just as likely as Democrats to doubt it will happen. About half of adults in each party say a ban is very or somewhat unlikely, while roughly three-in-ten say it’s very or somewhat likely. *Views by use of TikTok* There are only modest differences based on whether people use the platform. While 54% of U.S. adult TikTok users say it’s unlikely that the platform will be banned, 48% of nonusers say the same. *Views by attitudes toward a ban* Similar shares of Americans who support and who oppose a ban think it is unlikely to happen. In both groups, people are more skeptical than not: - **54% of those who support a ban** think it’s unlikely, 37% think it’s likely and 9% are unsure. - **56% of those who oppose a ban** think it’s unlikely, 31% say it’s likely and 13% are unsure. *Note: Here are the [questions used for this analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_questionnaire.pdf), [the topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/SR_24.09.05_tiktok-ban_methodology.pdf).*