By India McCarty
A new survey revealed some surprising findings about Americans’ opinions on the TikTok ban.
“Public support for a TikTok ban now stands at 34% among U.S. adults, according to a new Pew Research Center survey,” a report from Pew reads. “That’s down from 50% in March 2023.”
Pew also asked Americans about why they do or don’t support the ban, with most supporters saying they have “concerns about data security,” as well as “the platform’s Chinese ownership.”
Most of the ban’s opponents think it “would threaten free speech,” while others said “there isn’t enough evidence to call TikTok a threat to the U.S.” Others pointed out that a TikTok ban would “hurt those who rely on TikTok for income.”
President Donald Trump recently gave TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, another 90-day extension to find a new owner. It is the third extension he has granted since taking office in January.
“We’ll be extending it. We’re going to extend it,” Trump recently told reporters at the White House. “We’re going to probably make a deal — I think we’ll need China’s blessing on it.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News, “As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
Related: Do Americans Support the TikTok Ban?
In April, it seemed like a promising deal was in the works, giving majority ownership to a collection of U.S. companies who would license TikTok’s algorithm. However, the deal collapsed after Trump enacted his plan to tariff goods coming to America from China.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told NPR, “The U.S. side should provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for the companies concerned operating in the United States.”
This latest extension, which gives TikTok until September to find a new owner, is technically opposing the 2024 Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which “mandated that ByteDance divest its U.S. TikTok operations by Jan. 19, 2025,” per Fox News.
“The law permitted only one 90-day extension, which the Trump administration already granted earlier this year,” the outlet continued. “This week’s order represents a second extension beyond that legal window.”
The Trump administration’s efforts to keep TikTok in the country aligns with Pew’s findings about the majority of America’s feelings about the potential ban.
Read Next: Will Donald Trump Extend TikTok’s Deadline for a Third Time?
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