Almost 60 percent of Americans want TikTok banned from app stores: poll

Following reports of Chinese officials accessing U.S. user data, nearly 60% of Americans want social media app TikTok removed from app stores, according to a recent survey.

The app allows users to post, view and share short videos and has gained widespread popularity in the United States and worldwide, with over 1 billion active users.

The Chinese-owned app has also attracted considerable criticism over security issues and its ties to the communist regime in Beijing. ByteDance, which owns the app, maintains its headquarters in Beijing, though TikTok itself is banned in China.

A Convention of States Action and Trafalgar Group poll found 58.6% of respondents back "efforts to remove TikTok from app stores now that the company has revealed Americans' user data can be accessed by TikTok employees in China." Nearly 18% opposed a ban and 23.6% were unsure.

In mid-July, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr warned that the app was handing over user data to Chinese officials, saying, "there’s an awful lot of data that's being pulled from your device, and apparently sent back to China. Underneath that, it's pulling biometrics, including face prints and voice prints; keystroke patterns and rhythms; search and browsing history; location information."

President Trump attempted to ban the app but consistently faced legal challenges, and the effort ultimately failed.

Support for removing TikTok from U.S. app stores varies sharply by political affiliation, which Republicans the most in favor, at 76.8%. Independents backed the move with 56.9% while 39.2% of Democrats approved of a ban, according to the poll.