CV NEWS FEED // A recent Pew Research Center analysis showed that Americans who say they are Democrats or lean Democrat are increasingly concerned about social media’s influence in politics.
At the same time, a majority of Americans who say they are Republicans or lean Republican are worried about major tech companies holding a pro-liberal bias.
Pew published the analysis, “Americans’ Views of Technology Companies,” on April 29. The article covers statistics regarding the views of Republicans, Independents and Democrats on social media, censorship, and political bias in tech companies. The surveys merged independents’ perspectives with the party that they leaned toward.
“Since 2020, more Americans – particularly Democrats – believe social media companies wield too much political power,” Pew reported. As of February 2024, 78% of Americans believe social media companies have too much influence in politics.
Eighty-four percent of Republicans think social media companies have too much influence in politics, and 74% of Democrat-leaning Americans think the same.
“And 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,” Pew highlighted.
Though Democrats are increasingly concerned about this influence, another statistic in the Pew report showed that 50% of Democrats believe tech companies equally support the views of conservatives and liberals.
The portion of Democrats who thought big tech favors conservative views rose from 16% in 2018 to 25% in 2024.
In contrast, an increasing percentage of Republicans since 2018 believe major tech companies have a pro-liberal bias.
“Fully 71% of Republicans say major technology companies support the views of liberals over conservatives,” Pew reported, later stating that in 2018, 64% of Republicans said this.