Majority of Black voters oppose bill to ban TikTok: Poll

The majority of Black voters in the United States oppose legislation that would ban the social media platform TikTok, new polling found.

The poll, conducted by ClearPath Strategies, found that 51 percent of Black voters oppose a ban of the platform and 55 percent view TikTok favorably. The polling, which is not public, was provided to TikTok from ClearPath through an internal memo, which was obtained by The Hill.

The poll also found that 24 percent of Black voters said they would be less likely to vote for an elected official who supported a TikTok ban, and 77 percent said they’d prefer Congress pass a law instead that requires all social media companies to abide by a set of regulations and standards around protecting user data.

The memo to TikTok suggests frustrations from Black voters about a ban of the platform could impact the critical voting bloc’s support for President Biden in November’s election, citing interviews this month with voters in swing states and those who use TikTok.

Overall, the poll found that 38 percent of registered voters in the U.S. use TikTok at least once a month, which includes 51 percent of Black voters, 57 percent of Latino voters and 42 percent of voters who say they are liberal.

Additionally, 39 percent of voters who said they plan on voting for Biden in November regularly use TikTok, as well as 68 percent of voters ages 18-29.

Biden has said he would support the bipartisan Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act if Congress passes the legislation. The bill would require ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest the social media app or face a ban on U.S. app stores and web hosting services, banning users from accessing the platform.

The bill passed the House in a broad bipartisan vote in March, and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced her support for the bill last week, clearing a path for it in the upper chamber.

The poll was conducted from April 8-10 and includes 1,025 registered voters nationally. The margin of error was not provided on the memo.