Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Pew Research: Majority of Americans Alarmed by Social Media's Political Power

Pew Research Center did a survey about political power over social media and it was found that many Americans think that social media companies are too powerful. 78% of the respondents in the survey, out of which 84% were Republicans and 74% were Democrats, said that they believe that social media companies deeply influence politics. Ever since the last presidential elections, people who think that social media companies have an impact on politics have increased by 6%.

Many Americans think of social media in the light of what American legislators think. The lawmakers and legislators in the USA have proposed many laws and petitions to make social media accountable for any political news they publish. A republican and a democrat senator have proposed a Kids Online Safety Act that is asking social media platforms to make usage of social media safe for kids. The senators said that social media platforms should monitor everyone’s activities and keep their content clean and safe for underage people. But some people who care about their privacy on social media said that closely watching the activities of people on social media will make many adults vulnerable to the government.

On the other hand, two senators from opposing parties have only partnered up together to propose a bill that will commission to oversee many social media platforms. It is quite obvious why many American think that social media has too much political power as social media was used in 2022 to help attack the Capitol. Even with these many threats, the USA government is more interested in banning China owned TikTok.

There is also a difference between what liberals and conservatives think of many tech companies. 71% of the Republicans said that tech companies favor liberals while 50% Democrats said that Republicans and Democrats are treated equally by tech companies. Only 15% of the USA adults think that tech companies favor conservatives more than liberals. Even with many lawsuits aimed at companies like Apple, Amazon and Meta, only 16% of Americans think that tech companies should be regulated less than how they are being regulated now.
Read next: Mapping Success: The Biggest CEO Fundraisers in Every US State
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

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