Poll: 66% of Likely Voters Support Investigation of Social Media Sites

The majority of Americans approve of Republican plans for a congressional investigation into social media companies and “overwhelmingly” believe social media censorship is a problem, a new Rasmussen Reports survey shows.

Rasmussen Reports surveyed 1,000 U.S. likely voters between December 8 – 11, following Elon Musk’s release of information showing that Twitter censored and blacklisted conservatives and after Republicans vowed to investigate when they take control of the House in January. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points and the 95 percent level of confidence.

The survey found that 66 percent of likely voters approve of GOP plans to investigate social media censorship, including 43 percent who “strongly approve.” Only 26 percent disapprove, including 13 percent who “strongly disapprove.”

While Republicans (86 percent) are more likely than Democrats (52 percent) to approve of investigation plans, a majority of voters from both parties are in agreement. Sixty-three percent of unaffiliated voters concur with Republican investigation plans.

More than three-quarters (77 percent) of respondents “believe it’s likely that social media companies like Facebook censor news and commentary because of political bias,” including more than half (52 percent) who think it is “very likely.”

“Only 14 percent say it’s unlikely social media sites are engaging in political censorship,” the survey report states. 

Broken down by political affiliation, Republicans (70 percent) are more likely than Democrats (39 percent) and unaffiliated voters (49 percent) to think it is “very likely” that social media companies censor news and commentary because of political bias.

Rasmussen Reports noted that politics “clearly affects perceptions of whether censorship or the spread of misinformation is the worst social media problem.” Overall, 72 percent of likely voters think social media censorship is a “serious problem,” and 73 percent believe misinformation on social media is a “serious problem.” But Republicans are more likely to view censorship (69 percent) as a “very serious problem than misinformation (42 percent). In contrast, Democrats are much more worried about misinformation (57 percent) than censorship (32 percent). 

“Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 49 percent say censorship by social media companies is a Very Serious problem, slightly more than the 45 percent who see misinformation as a Very Serious problem,” the report states. 

Unsurprisingly, President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters are “most concerned about misinformation spreading on social media.” 

“Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 74 percent say misinformation on social media is a Very Serious problem, compared to just 36 percent of those who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance,” the survey found.