Frequent TikTok users in Taiwan are more likely to hold certain political views aligned with Beijing’s narratives, according to a recent survey by Taiwan-based NGO DoubleThink Lab.
Conducted in March and released on June 5, the survey compared "active" TikTok users - defined as those who use the app several times a week for over 30 minutes per session or several times a day with shorter sessions - with "inactive" users who spend less time on the platform. It explored their views on a range of issues including cross-strait relations, democracy and U.S. support for Taiwan.
All respondents affiliated with Taiwan’s three main parties - the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party - mostly disagreed with the statement: "For the sake of cross-strait peace, it is okay to give up the democratic system."
Photo: Reuters
However, only 73.1 percent of active DPP supporters disagreed, compared with 83.4 percent of inactive users.
In response to another statement: "The DPP is no different from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that Taiwan lacks freedom of speech" - 23.9 percent of active DPP users agreed, compared with just 9.3 percent of inactive users.
Eric Hsu (徐葆權) of DoubleThink Lab said that the findings show that frequent TikTok users, regardless of political affiliation, are more likely to hold pro-China views and be skeptical of Taiwan’s political system.
The survey also asked respondents whether they agreed that cross-strait unification would "not significantly change ordinary people’s lives." Among active TikTok users, 45.2 percent agreed, higher than the 33.2 percent of inactive users.
DoubleThink Lab said in its analysis that because TikTok delivers entertainment and political content side by side, it could influence users’ views on certain issues and their receptiveness to specific political narratives.
Hsu said the survey was carried out amid concerns about TikTok’s security risks and China’s "united front" efforts - a coordinated campaign by the CCP to influence politics abroad and suppress opposition.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese tech firm widely seen as operating under CCP oversight.
Since 2019, Taiwan has banned TikTok, Douyin (抖音) - the Chinese-language version - and China’s social media app Xiaohongshu (小紅書), or Rednote, from government devices and official premises over national security concerns.
According to data from Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s top academic research institution, over 50 percent of high school students and younger use TikTok or Douyin, Hsu said.
The survey gathered 2,612 valid online responses, including 1,097 active users and 1,515 inactive users.
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