MOST AMERICANS THINK SOCIAL MEDIA HURTS DEMOCRACY


A new poll found that a majority of Americans now think social media hurts democracy and free speech, in a significant change from just last year. In the SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, 57 percent of Americans said social media does more to hurt democracy and free speech than promote it, a jump from 43 percent who said the same thing last year. In the November 2017 survey, 53 percent said social media helps promote democracy and free speech more than it hurts it. There was a negative shift in the opinion of social media among people of both political parties, however Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats to view social media as harmful, 69 percent to 48 percent. Further, 55 percent of Americans are concerned the federal government won't do enough to regulate big technology companies, a 15-point increase from last year. At the same time, 63 percent of Americans still said that social media has a positive impact on their lives.


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