WASHINGTON, DC – As the nation comes together to watch President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union this evening, and two House Committees hold hearings this morning on the benefits of antitrust legislation, the Tech Oversight Project is sharing a round-up of national and statewide data spotlighting how antitrust reform has bipartisan and widespread support.

Reining in Big Tech monopolies is one of the few issues that unites Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. From Silicon Valley to New York City, momentum is growing among voters of all backgrounds to pass meaningful antitrust reform that reins in Big Tech, promotes competition, and protects children and families.

From agreeing that Big Tech has too much influence over government policy, to supporting laws that protect children’s privacy, to concern about the spread of disinformation and radicalization online, Americans are united in believing that Congress needs to do more to act against Big Tech monopolies.

The Findings:
Data for Progress, California Poll, February 2022

  • 67% of respondents believed Big Tech had too much influence over government policy
  • 89% support updating federal laws that protect children’s privacy online
  • 73% support Facebook making their research on the harmful effects on children’s mental health public information
  • 84% support strengthening laws to hold Big Tech accountable and keep markets competitive

Source: LINK HERE

 

Ispos, National Poll, February 2022

  • 87% percent of survey respondents were concerned about hacking, malware, and data breaches
  • 80% were concerned about disinformation, conspiracy theories, and fake news
  • 79% were concerned with social media radicalization
  • 76% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans want to make it harder for large companies to establish monopolies through acquiring competitor companies
  • 77% of Republicans and 72% of Democrats want to make it harder for big companies to
  • force smaller companies out of business by copying their products and giving them away for free
  • 67% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats are in favor of breaking up large, monopolistic, technology companies

Source: LINK HERE

 

Public Policy Polling, New York Poll, February 2022

  • 76% of respondents believed Big Tech had too much influence over government policy
  • 78% were concerned about Big Tech lobbying the government
  • 80% believe we need to pass new laws or strengthen existing ones to rein in Big Tech
  • 79% believe lawmakers should do more to hold Big Tech accountable for anticompetitive behavior

Source: LINK HERE

 

Data for Progress, National Poll, January 2022

  • 69% of Democrats, 60% of Independents, and 46% of Republicans support passing the American Innovation and Choice Online Act

Source: LINK HERE

 

Public Policy Polling, Virginia Poll, January 2022

  • 76% of respondents believed Big Tech had too much influence over government policy
  • 78% were concerned about Big Tech collecting and selling people’s personal data
  • 81% were concerned social media deliberately making their platforms more addictive to children
  • 79% were concerned about Big Tech lobbying the government
  • 82% believe we need to pass new laws or strengthen existing ones to rein in Big Tech

Source: LINK HERE

 

Data for Progress, California 19th Congressional District Poll, January 2022

  • 66% of respondents believed Big Tech had too much influence over government policy
  • 69% were concerned about Big Tech collecting and selling people’s personal data
  • 62% were concerned social media deliberately making their platforms more addictive to children
  • 86% supported updating federal law to improve children’s safety and privacy online
  • 77% believed that we need to strengthen the laws to hold big tech companies accountable, guarantee public safety, and keep markets competitive.
  • 73% would be more likely to support a candidate who stood up for legislation that reined in abuses by Big Tech

Source: LINK HERE

 

Data For Progress, Iowa Poll, December 2021

  • 82% of respondents believed Big Tech had too much influence over government policy
  • 94% were concerned about Big tech collecting detailed information on users’ online activity and selling their personal data.
  • 92% were concerned about Big Tech lobbying the government
  • 88% said policymakers should be doing more to curb abuses by Big Tech firms.

Source: LINK HERE

Washington Post, National Poll, November 2021

  • 72% of respondents did not trust Facebook to responsibly handle their personal information on their internet activity.
  • 64% believed the government should do more to regulate how Big Tech handled privacy issues.
  • 79% of respondents said Big Tech did not provide them enough control over how information about their activity were tracked and used.
  • 73% of respondents said Big Tech collecting information on users to target ads towards them was “an unjustified use of people’s private information.”

Source: LINK HERE

Data For Progress, National Poll, November 2021

  • 67% of respondents said social media like Facebook should do more to regulate behavior that incited violence or endangered minors
  • 79% supported the government creating new rules and standards for social media companies to better protect children online
  • 80% of respondents supported the government investigating Facebook

Source: LINK HERE

Progressive Policy Institute, Battleground Poll, September 2021

  • 63% of respondents said they were worried about the size of the largest tech companies.
  • 77% of respondents were worried about how much they paid corporate tax on their profits.
  • 72% of respondents said it was important for Congress to act and change how Amazon competed with fellow U.S. companies, 69% said the same of Google, 67% said the same of Apple and 66% said the same of Facebook.

Source: LINK HERE

Future of Technology Commission, National Poll, July 2021

  • 82% of respondents believed we needed to do more to regulate big tech
  • 84% agreed there needed to be “common-sense” rules for Big Tech
  • 82% believed legislators needed to create more effective laws to address Big Tech.

Source: LINK HERE

Center for American Progress, National Poll, July 2021

  • 81% of respondents believed Big Tech had too much power and influence over politics and government. Broken down by party: 96% of Republican + leaners, 76% of Independents and 66% of Democrats + leaners.
  • 99% of Republicans and 97% of Democrats believed there should be rules to ensure all internet companies did not abuse consumer data, use deceptive or unfair practices or violate their civil rights.

Source: LINK HERE

Pew Research, National Poll, July 2021

  • 56% of respondents believed Big Tech should be regulated more than they were currently.
  • 68% believed Big Tech had too much power and influence in the economy. 74% of Republican + leaners agreed with the statement and 64% of Democrat + leaners agreed.
  • 55% of Americans believed even if Big Tech followed the rules, the government should not allow them to grow beyond a certain size because it hurt competition.

Source: LINK HERE

Axios/Data for Progress, National Poll, June 2021

  • 85% of respondents were concerned about the spread of disinformation on social media
  • 82% of respondents are somewhat or very concerned about children being radicalized by online content
  • 57% of respondents supported breaking up Big Tech companies into smaller entities

Source: LINK HERE

Investor’s Business Daily, National Poll, May 2021

  • 57% of respondents supported breaking up Facebook to prevent it from becoming a monopoly, 54% of respondents supported breaking up Google, 53% respondents supported breaking up Amazon, and 50% supported breaking up Apple.
  • 73% of respondents expressed concern over less privacy along with worries about the misuse or compromise of personal data.
  • 66% of respondents were concerned that the growing influence of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook weakened the ability to get news and opinions from different viewpoints.

Source: LINK HERE

NBC News, National Poll, April 2021

  • 64% of Americans thought social media platforms did more to divide us, just 27% believed social media platforms did more to bring us together.

Source: LINK HERE

Gallup, National Poll, February 2021

  • 57% believed the government should increase its regulation of Big Tech, with 60% of Democrats agreeing, 58% of Independents agreeing and 53% of Republicans agreeing.
  • Republicans’ negative view of Big Tech rose from 37% in 2019 65% holding a negative view.

Source: LINK HERE

Vox/Data for Progress, National Poll, January 2021

  • 59% of respondents supported breaking up Big Tech, 27% opposed
  • 65% agreed that the economic power of Big Tech was a problem facing the U.S. economy.
  • 69% supported a policy that would require tech platforms and social media to provide regular reports about content that was removed and accounts that were banned.

Source: LINK HERE