(NewsNation) — Supreme Court Justices next year are set to consider whether a law banning TikTok in the United States unless parent company ByteDance divests from it violates the First Amendment.
Oral arguments over the legislation will be held on Jan. 10, NewsNation partner The Hill reports.
While it has been a controversial political topic, TikTok remains popular, especially among younger generations, Pew Research Center found. The organization has done several polls on Americans’ attitudes on the app throughout 2023 and 2024.
Here are some of its findings.
Support for TikTok Ban went down
Although in March 2023, 50% of adults surveyed by Pew supported a potential ban on TikTok, that number declined in a summer 2024 survey to 32%.
Abouy half of the people asked in summer 2024 think it’s unlikely TikTok will stop being allowed in the U.S.
Republicans and independents who lean Republican were more likely to support prohibiting the app in America, but Pew noted that support has gone down in both parties since last year.
Republican President-elect Donald Trump was once supportive of a ban on TikTok but later said during the 2024 election that he wants to “save” it and that his administration would take a look at the situation.
In total, about a third of U.S. adults use TikTok. Pew research shows 59% of adults under 30 say they use the app; 40% of Americans ages 30 to 49 do; and only 10% of those 65 and older go on TikTok, according to Pew.
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People use TikTok for entertainment, news
The primary reason adults say they use TikTok is for entertainment, Pew said. About half, 52%, say they “regularly” get news there, whereas Pew notes news consumption on other social media sites have declined or remained steady.
Younger adults are more likely to use TikTok for news: about 45% of those from the ages of 18 to 29 say they use it for this purpose, and 38% of 30 to 49-year-olds do too.
Along with the age gap, there’s also a gender divide in who regularly gets news from TikTok: 62% of women, versus 36% of men. Political party makes a difference as well, Pew said: 55% of regular TikTok news consumers say they are Democrats, and 39% identify as Republican. News influencers, on the other hand, are both right-leaning (25%) and left-leaning (28%).
Still, TikTok users were more likely to see funny posts (84%) or people’s opinions (80%) than actual news articles (57%) or breaking news (55%).
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More people are watching than posting
Of those who use TikTok, most are watching: about 98% of public videos come from the most active 25% of users, Pew says.
Pew wrote that 52% of adult TikTok users have posted a video on it before.
“Although younger U.S. adults are more likely to use TikTok, their posting behaviors don’t differ much from those of older age groups,” Pew wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
