A majority of Americans think that social media companies have too much power and great influence in politics, and about half of them think that some regulations should be brought in for major technology companies.
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center noted that about 712 per cent of the US adults think that social media companies have too much power and influence in politics today.
The survey also noted that 82 per cent of Republicans and Republican leaning independents think that these technological companies have too much power and influence in politics. Meanwhile, 63 per cent of Democrats and Democratic leaners thought so. It also said that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that these technological companies have about the right amount of power and influence in politics.
The survey also came across ideological differences within the parties. About 89 per cent conservative Republicans think that the companies have too much power. Meanwhile, 74 per cent of moderate or liberal Republicans only had such a thought. With respect to liberal Democrats, about 68 per cent agreed that technological companies have much influence in politics. About 60 per cent of the moderate or conservative Democrats agreed with this, the survey pointed out.
With Silicon Valley emerging powerful and becoming a key player in global market, a lot of criticism have come up against this. A lot of politicians have recently come out openly against the tech companies.
The survey also notes that a minority of the Americans want the government to regulate these companies. About 47 per cent think that the government should be regulating major technology companies more than it is now. However, 11 per cent think that these companies should be regulated less and 39 per cent opined that e regulations of today must stay as it is.
The PEW Research Centre says that the results of survey were mostly on par with those of a similar survey in 2018. The Centre says that Democratic support for increased regulation has dropped by 11 percentage points since 2018. On the other hand, the views of the Republicans are about the same, the Centre said.
The survey also shows that about half of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are now supportive of more regulation. The PEW Centre notes that this marks another change from 2018. The percentage of conservative Republicans who believe that the companies should face more government regulation has increased. It has increased from 42 per cent in 2018 to 53 per cent. However, the percentage of liberal Democrats who support more regulation has fallen, the survey notes.
