According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 78% of U.S. adults believe that social media companies have too much influence on politics — broken down by party affiliation, with 84% of Republicans surveyed and 74% of Democrats holding this view. Overall, the popularity of this idea has increased by 6% since the last presidential election year.
Americans' views on social media mirror those of their lawmakers. Only a few of the recent political demands that have received strong bipartisan support have been efforts to hold social media platforms accountable. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have launched a bipartisan collaboration on the Kids Online Safety Act, which would make social media platforms accountable for keeping children safe. However, some privacy advocates have criticized the bill for its potential to make adults more vulnerable to government surveillance.
At the same time, Senators Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren have also forged an unlikely partnership, introducing a bill that would like to create a committee to oversee big tech platforms.
Graham said at a Senate hearing in January, "The only thing worse than me doing the bill with Elizabeth Warren is that she runs the bill with me." "
It's clear why Americans believe tech companies have too much political power – social platforms have been used to coordinate attacks on the Capitol since the 2020 investigation, and as a result, a sitting president has been banned from using them for abetting these attacks. At the same time, the administration is very concerned about the influence of TikTok, which China has, and President Biden has just signed a bill that could permanently remove the app.
But on the topic of bias in tech companies, conservative and liberal Americans have divided views. Seventy-one percent of Republicans surveyed said big tech companies favor liberal views over conservative ones, while 50 percent of Democrats said tech companies support both views to an equal extent. Only 15% of adults believe tech companies support conservatives over liberals.
These findings make sense given the rise of apparently conservative social platforms like Rumble, Parler, and Trump's own Truth Social app.
During Biden's presidency, government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have taken tougher measures against tech companies. Several of the largest U.S. companies, such as Amazon, Apple, and Meta, are facing significant lawsuits alleging monopolistic practices. But according to Pew's survey, only 16% of U.S. adults believe there should be less regulation of tech companies than there is now. This percentage has grown since 2021, when Pew found it to be 9%.
When it comes to tech policy, liberals and conservatives may not be entirely aligned, but the main point of this survey is clear: Americans are tired of the enormous influence of Big Tech.