Majority of Americans Feel Social Media Has Excessive Influence on Politics, Pew Research Study Finds

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center has found that a majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, believe that social media companies have too much influence in politics.

The survey, released on Monday, showed that 78% of American adults think companies like Facebook, Twitter, and others have too much political influence. This sentiment is echoed by 84% of Republicans and 74% of Democrats surveyed, according to TechCrunch.

The survey revealed a 6% increase in the belief of social media influence since the 2020 presidential election.

However, there is a divide between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to perceived bias in these companies. 71% of Republicans think that social media platforms favor liberal viewpoints, while only 50% of Democrats believe there is bias. Additionally, 15% of respondents overall believe that these companies lean towards conservatives.

Meanwhile, tech giants like Apple, Amazon, and Meta are facing legal action from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice for alleged monopolistic practices.

The survey also showed that 16% of Americans feel there should be less regulation of tech companies, up from 9% in 2021.

The majority of Americans view social media negatively, with 64% stating that these platforms have a negative impact and only 10% seeing a positive effect.

Lawmakers are increasingly concerned about social media’s influence on politics, leading to bipartisan bills being introduced. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are collaborating on the Kids Online Safety Act to enhance children’s online safety.

Furthermore, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have proposed a bill to establish a commission for regulating social media. They aim to promote competition, protect privacy, consumer rights, and national security.

Congress recently passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if the Chinese-owned company, ByteDance, doesn’t divest ownership.

The survey was conducted through the American Trends Panel (ATP) by Pew Research Center on a group of randomly selected adults from Feb. 7 to 11. The margin of sampling error for the 10,133 respondents was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.