If enacted, the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversaries Act (PAFFAA) will force ByteDance to either divest TikTok‘s American operations or remove the app from the U.S. entirely. That plan, which was once supported by about half of U.S.-based respondents, seems to be losing some of its luster. According to the latest data from the Pew Research Center, only 32% of Americans support a potential TikTok ban.
Back in March 2023, when TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew endured a grilling at the U.S. Capitol, 50% of Pew’s respondents said they would support the U.S. government’s plan to ban TikTok. But the changing nature of that discussion is changing some Americans’ minds as well. By fall 2023, when the bill then known as the Restrict Act went back into the lab for revisions, public support of a TikTok ban dropped to 38%. It has fallen another 6% since then, even though Congress and President Biden have already approved PAFFAA.
Though support for a U.S. TikTok ban has decreased on both sides of the political aisle, the shift on the right has been particuarly dramatic. Over the past 18 months, support for a TikTok ban among Republican respondents went down by 18 percentage points. Americans who don’t use the app have also become less likely to call for a ban; in the latest Pew report, 42% of that group called for a ban, compared to 60% last March.
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Donald Trump’s flip-flop on the ByteDance-owned app has probably helped its image among Republicans. The man who once tried to ban TikTok is now one of its most staunch defenders, and he is employing the app as he seeks reelection to the U.S. presidency.
Trump’s opponent has also gotten a boost from TikTok, though Vice President Kamala Harris has not made it clear whether she agrees with the mounting public opposition to PAFFAA. “As the VP has said before, we don’t want to ban TikTok,” a Harris staffer told Axios. “We would just like to see a change in ownership.”
But a change in ownership could prove tricky, since ByteDance has vowed not to divest TikTok even if the U.S. law goes into effect. Harris’ take on the app may therefore require more elaboration, lest the Vice President get dragged by all the social media politicos lurking on TikTok.
As presidential campaigns mull the ongoing shift in public opinion, TikTok itself is emerging as a big winner. The app is currying favor among Americans as it prepares its arguments for the upcoming legal battle that will decide PAFFAA’s fate. A positive jolt of PR could prove valuable as preliminary court actions — including an attempt to expand access to secret government evidence — begin to take place.
