\n<\/p>\n
Finally, something that both sides of the aisle can agree on: social media companies are too powerful.<\/p>\n
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center<\/a>, 78% of American adults say social media companies have too much influence on politics \u2014 to break it down by party, that\u2019s 84% of surveyed Republicans and 74% of Democrats. Overall, this viewpoint has become 6% more popular since the last presidential election year.<\/p>\n Americans\u2019 feelings about social media reflect that of their legislators. Some of the only political pursuits that have recently garnered significant bipartisan support have been efforts to hold social media platforms accountable. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have been working across the aisle on their Kids Online Safety Act<\/a>, a bill that would put a duty of care on social media platforms to keep children safe. However, some privacy advocates have criticized the bill\u2019s potential to make adults more vulnerable to government surveillance.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have also forged an unlikely partnership to propose a bill<\/a> that would create a commission to oversee big tech platforms.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing worse than me doing a bill with Elizabeth Warren is her doing a bill with me,\u201d Graham said at a Senate hearing<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n It\u2019s obvious why Americans think tech companies have too much political power \u2014 since the 2020 survey, social platforms were used to coordinate<\/a> an attack on the Capitol, and then as a result, a sitting president got banned<\/a> from those platforms for egging on those attacks. Meanwhile, the government is so concerned about the influence of Chinese-owned TikTok that President Biden just signed a bill<\/a> that could ban the app for good.<\/p>\n But the views of conservative and liberal Americans diverge on the topic of tech companies\u2019 bias. While 71% of Republicans surveyed said that big tech favors liberal perspectives over conservative ones, 50% of Democrats said that tech companies support each set of views equally. Only 15% of adults overall said that tech companies support conservatives over liberals.<\/p>\n These survey results make sense given the rise of explicitly conservative social platforms, like Rumble<\/a>, Parler<\/a> and Trump\u2019s own Truth Social<\/a> app.<\/p>\n During Biden\u2019s presidency, government agencies like the FTC and DOJ have taken a sharper aim at tech companies. Some of the country\u2019s biggest companies like Amazon<\/a>, Apple<\/a> and Meta<\/a> have faced major lawsuits alleging monopolistic behaviors. But according to Pew\u2019s survey, only 16% of U.S. adults think that tech companies should be regulated less than they are now. This percentage has grown since 2021, when Pew found that value to be 9%.<\/p>\n Liberals and conservatives may not agree on everything when it comes to tech policy, but the predominant perspective from this survey is clear: Americans are tired of the outsized influence of big tech.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n