National security versus freedom of speech: How media exposure, personal values, and media framing influence non-users’ support for a national ban on TikTok

Our study examines how external factors, including media exposure, personal values, and media framing (i.e. national security vs free speech), influence non-users’ support for a national TikTok ban in the United States via an online experiment-embedded survey (N = 498). Results show that while perceived national security threats predicted ban support only in the national security condition, concerns about free speech violations consistently decreased support across all conditions. An analysis of open-ended responses further demonstrated that participants adopted the framing language consistent with their experimental condition. Findings suggest that personal value framing in the media, especially those related to free speech values, plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion on social media regulation policies. We thus contribute to a comprehensive understanding of how media framing influences policy preferences for emerging digital governance issues such as social media regulations. Other implications were also discussed.