A significant majority of Americans have lost faith in tech companies' ability to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the 2020 presidential election, according to a new study from Pew Research Center, released today. The study found that nearly three-quarters of Americans don't believe platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google will be able to prevent election interference. What's more, this sentiment is felt by both political parties evenly.
While Americans had similar negative feelings about platforms' misuse ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, their lack of confidence has gotten even worse over the past year. As of January 2020, 74% of Americans report having little confidence in the tech companies, compared with 66% back in September 2018. For Democrats, the decline in trust is even greater, with 74% today feeling"not too" confident or"not at all" confident, compared with 62% in September 2018.
Story continuesGiven the increased negativity felt across the board on both sides of the aisle, it would have been interesting to see Pew update its 2018 survey that looked at other areas of concern Republicans and Democrats had with tech platforms. The older study found that Republicans were more likely to feel social media platforms favored liberal views while Democrats were more heavily in favor of regulation and restricting false information.