Nearly 75% Of Adults Say Social Media Companies Wield Too Much Power And Influence Over Politics: Pew

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?