American support for banning Tik Tok has collapsed, according to data released by Pew Research, falling from 50% to 32%. Meanwhile, opposition to the ban has gone up from 22% to 28%. Those who are not sure are up to 39% from 28% last year.
Tik Tok's head is still on the block, though. A bill requiring its sale by Chinese owner ByteDance passed in April and various shady-but-American interests are hoping to buy it. Republicans are still about twice as likely to want to see Tik Tok banned as Democrats, but both audiences saw a similar decline in support; at one point, nearly 2 in 3 Republicans supported a ban, but less Republicans now want it banned than Democrats did last year. Stats are magic!
Moreover, most Americans now think it unlikely Tik Tok will be banned, by a fraction of a percent, with less than a third thinking it likely: 50%-31%.
The whole "Ban Tik Tok" thing is bullshit of the floating world driven by fear of young people getting their politics from unsanctioned sources. Media interest in it subsided when the ban became real, because it's a censorship mechanism that was suddenly warming the hairs on some of our own necks. And in the absense of relentless coverage of the politicians calling for it, public interest subsided too. VORRRBloop!
Previously:
• How Tik Tok amplifies the consumerist fever dream of conspirituality
• Tik Tok executive refuses to say it will stop sending U.S. user data to China
• Donald Trump, who wants to ban Tik Tok, has joined Tik Tok: 'It's my honor'
