WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans believe that China uses TikTok to shape US public opinion, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted as Washington moves closer to potentially banning the Chinese-owned short-video app.

Some 58 per cent of respondents to the two-day poll, which closed on Tuesday (April 30), agreed with a statement that the Chinese government uses TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, to "influence American public opinion." Some 13 per cent disagreed, and the rest were unsure or didn't answer the question. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to see China as using the app to affect US opinions.

TikTok says it has spent more than US$1.5 billion (S$2 billion) on data security efforts and would not share data on its 170 million US users with the Chinese government. The company told Congress last year that it does "not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government."

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Joe Biden last week signed legislation giving ByteDance 270 days to divest TikTok's US assets or face a ban.

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