Earlier this week, Montana became the first US state to announce a statewide ban on TikTok citing national security concerns. This came as federal officials consider a nationwide ban on the app. Unsurprisingly, the decision is already facing legal challenges. TikTok creators have filed lawsuits arguing that the ban is unconstitutional. It appears most US citizens have a similar stance on this decision. A quick survey by cybersecurity firm Secure Data Recovery showed that only 18% of Americans support the idea of a nationwide ban on TikTok.
The survey, which was run after the announcement from Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday evening, assessed the opinions of 1,000 TikTok users on the matter. 51% of the respondents are concerned that the app will be banned across the country. However, the vast majority of them (almost four out of every five Americans) oppose this idea.
73% of TikTok users believe such a ban would be an act of authoritarianism, akin to Chinese government malfeasance, while 55% of them say stoking fears about Chinese spying is a form of xenophobia.
Moreover, three out of every five Americans (61%) aren’t afraid of Chinese spying. They don’t care if the Chinese government has access to their data. Nearly half of the respondents (47%) would choose to be spied on rather than lose access to TikTok.
59% of them believe the US government wants to ban the ultra-popular social media app to control the fast spread of information. One out of every four American TikTok users said they would vote against their governor if their state banned TikTok.
YouTube and Instagram may benefit from the TikTok ban in the US
This survey also asked users what would be their preferred alternative if the US government announces a nationwide ban on TikTok. 46% of them said they would switch to YouTube Shorts, while Instagram Reels is the preferred destination of 44% of TikTok users. 8% of them would move to Snapchat.
TikTok currently has over 150 million monthly active users in the US. So it’d be a massive win for these platforms if the US government favors a nationwide ban on the app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
But, as said earlier, the ban in Montana is already facing legal hurdles. So this is far from done. We will have to wait and see what the court decides. Meanwhile, here are some TikTok alternatives that you might want to check out.