Nearly 75% Of Adults Say Social Media Companies Wield Too Much Power And Influence Over Politics: Pew
Nearly 75% Of Adults Say
Social Media Companies Wield Too Much Power And Influence Over Politics: Pew
by Tyler Durden Thu,
07/23/2020 - 21:30
A new poll from Pew Research
finds that 72% of American adults think social media companies wield too much
power and influence over politics.
According to a survey
conducted last week, just 22% of Americans believe Silicon Valley
technocrats hold the 'right amount' of political power, while just 6% believe
it's 'not enough.'
Nearly 9 out of 10
'conservative Republicans' (89%) feel social media platforms have too much
power vs. 74% of 'moderate or liberal Republicans,' while liberal
Democrats are slightly more likely than moderate or conservative Democrats to
agree (68% vs. 60%).
Majorities of both
Republicans and Democrats believe social media companies wield too much power,
but Republicans are particularly likely to express this view. Roughly
eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (82%) think these
companies have too much power and influence in politics, compared with 63% of
Democrats and Democratic leaners. Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely
than Republicans to say these companies have about the right amount of power
and influence in politics (28% vs. 13%). Small shares in both parties believe
these companies do not have enough power. -Pew
Research
The results echoed a
similar 2018
Center survey which found that Republicans were more likely than
Democrats to believe social media platforms censor political content, and are
biased towards liberal views.
On July 27, CEOs of Apple,
Facebook, Amazon and Google will appear together in front of Congress for the
first time to testify before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, which
has spent the last year investigating competition within the tech industry.
Beyond debates about fair
business practices, the tech industry has also come under fire in recent
months from a host of critics – from President
Donald Trump to civil
rights advocates and even tech companies’ own
employees.
Amid these concerns, Americans
favor more, not less, regulation of major technology companies, according to
the Center’s recent survey. Some 47% of the public thinks the government should
be regulating major technology companies more than they are now, while just 11%
think they should be regulated less. About four-in-ten (39%) believe regulation
should stay at its current level. -Pew
Research
Will lawmakers push for
oversight so that Silicon Valley tech platforms stop discriminating along party
lines?
Comments
Post a Comment