A massive 78 percent majority of Americans believe social media companies have too much political power.
The Pew Research Center survey released on Monday revealed that the issue concerns both sides of the aisle, with 84 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of Democrats concerned about these companies’ influence.
The pollsters found that “Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party (84%) are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (74%) to think these companies have too much political power.”
The report adds, “While Republicans’ opinions have changed little since 2020, this view has grown more common among Democrats over the past four years: 74% of Democrats believe social media companies have too much power and influence in politics, up from 63% in 2020.”
Just 16 percent of Americans believe social media companies have the right amount of influence, and four percent said they have too little.
Additionally, “Americans are far more likely to say social media has a negative rather than positive impact on the country. Roughly two-thirds (64%) think social media has a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today.”
Only 10 percent of respondents said that social media has a mostly positive impact on society.
“Majorities in both political parties see social media’s impact on the country negatively, though Republicans remain more wary than Democrats (71% vs. 59%). That said, a growing number of Democrats believe these platforms have a mostly bad impact on the country, rising to 59% in our current survey, up from 53% in 2020.”
Most surveyed said they believe social media platforms censor people based on political bias.
“Roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (83%) say it’s very or somewhat likely that these platforms intentionally censor political viewpoints they find objectionable, up from 77% in 2022. Just 17% in the current survey think this is not likely the case.”
The poll found that over ninety percent of Republicans believe social media platforms censor people based on politics.
Majorities in both parties believe political censorship is likely occurring on social media, but more Republicans hold this view. Fully 93% of Republicans say it’s likely that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints that they find objectionable, including 66% who say that this is very likely happening.
By comparison, 74% of Democrats think this is likely occurring, with 25% saying there’s a strong possibility this is occurring.
The pollsters surveyed 10,133 U.S. adults from February 7-11, 2024.
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