Two out of every three conservatives do not trust Facebook and believe that prominent social media companies purposely discriminate against conservatives, according to a recent poll.
The poll, undertaken by McLaughlin & Associates and released by the Media Research Center, found that 66 percent of conservatives do not trust Facebook to treat their “users equally regardless of their political beliefs,” while a further 65 percent believe social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube deliberately censor conservatives and conservative content from their platforms. 67 percent of conservatives trust Facebook less than they did a year ago.
Meanwhile, 7 percent of conservatives say they have already left Facebook because of censorship, while a quarter of respondents said they are “seriously considering it.” Media Research Center Founder and President Brent Bozell described the results as “devastating to any CEO responsible for addressing the concerns of his customer base.”
“These trends should set off alarm bells at Facebook headquarters. They are bleeding a major customer base.” Bozell said. “Censorship on social media is no longer a hypothetical; it’s reality. So too is the evidence that this censorship is pointing to a massive conservative exodus.”
Despite denying that they purposely target conservatives, cases of censorship against right-leaning voices across social media are extremely well documented, prompting concern among some lawmakers. President Donald Trump has also expressed concern over the issue, promising to take action against it.
“Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices,” Trump wrote on Twitter earlier this month. “Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen.
“They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others,” he continued. “Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen… Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police.”