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Thursday, Mar. 14, 2024

Has TikTok increasingly become a news source for Americans under age 30?

Tom Kertscher, Wisconsin Watch
yes

TikTok, the social media platform known for video-sharing, is used for news by an increasing number of Americans under age 30.

About 32% of U.S. adults age 18 to 29 regularly get news from TikTok, up from 9% in 2020, according to a Pew Research Center poll of U.S. adults done Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2023.

Globally, 20% of 18- to 24-year-olds use TikTok for news, according to a June 2023 report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. That’s up from 15% a year earlier.

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who represents northeast Wisconsin, introduced legislation in December 2022 to ban TikTok in the U.S.

On March 11, 2024, the House of Representatives approved a different Gallagher-sponsored bill that would ban “foreign adversary-controlled” TikTok unless its Chinese owners gave up ownership the company.

TikTok said in March 2023 it has 150 million U.S. users.

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