Infographic – Social Media Seen Having Too Much Power

Click on image for full-size view (Pew Research Center)

[Updated] 25 July 2020. Majorities of Americans say social media companies have too much power and influence in politics, a view that cuts across ideologies and parties. These findings are from a recent Pew Research Center survey released this week, and displayed in today’s infographic.

In the poll, some seven in 10 American adults (72%) say social media companies have too much power and influence in politics, while about two in 10 (21%) say the companies have about the right amount, and less than one in 10 (6%) say not enough power and influence. While eight in 10 people in the U.S. calling themselves Republicans (82%) are more likely to say social media companies have too much power, a clear majority of Democrats — 63 percent — agree with their Republican neighbors.

A similar pattern of responses cuts across ideological lines. Among Republicans, nine in 10 self-professed conservatives (89%) say social media companies have too much power and influence, somewhat more than the three-quarters (74%) of moderate or liberals in the party. Likewise, two-thirds (68%) of people calling themselves liberal Democrats believe social media companies have too much power, not much more than the six in 10 (60%) of moderate and conservative Democrats.

On a separate question, Pew researchers asked if major technology companies should be regulated more, less, or about the same as now. Nearly half (47%) of Americans call for more regulation, while one in 10 (11%) say less regulation, and four in 10 (39%) say about the same as now. Again, about the same percentage of Republicans (48%) and Democrats (46%) say there should be more regulation of big tech companies. The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are set to testify before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee on Monday.

The Pew Research Center conducted the survey 16 to 22 June with 4,708 U.S. adults taking part in Pew’s American Trends Panel. Panel participants were recruited from a random national sample of residential addresses, who completed online questionnaires, with responses weighted to reflect U.S. population demographics and partisan affiliations.

Update: Reuters reports the testimony before Congress by big tech company CEOs is now scheduled for Wednesday.

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