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The U.S. government should not regulate social media platforms, but the platform owners should remove, hide or limit traffic to posts with unverified information, according to Americans responding to a new Media & Technology Survey from Boston University’s College of Communication, out today.
A strong plurality (46%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the U.S. government regulating social media platforms, compared to only 28% who agreed or strongly agreed. Respondents expressed more agreement with the removal (63%) or minimizing (57%) of unverified information by the platforms themselves.
The survey also found that freedom of speech on social media platforms remains an important value with Americans, according to two-thirds (68%) of respondents. Moreover, more than eight in 10 (84%) say it’s important to protect the privacy of social media users.
Together, these results reflect both the public’s skepticism of governmental overreach and support for private solutions to countering misinformation, according to Chris Chao Su, an assistant professor of emerging media studies at Boston University’s College of Communication who designed the survey.
“The public wants a framework to regulate social media but not dictated by the government,” Su says. “Rather, these results and my own research suggest that Americans have a nuanced perspective on the balance between regulatory oversight and platform autonomy.
“The strong public support for content moderation, including the removal and reduced visibility of unverified information, is consistent with what we’ve studied about the impact of misinformation on public trust in social media platforms,” he adds. “This indicates a public consensus on the necessity of proactive measures to manage misinformation.”
The survey revealed some splits among demographic groups. Republicans reported stronger opposition to regulation (51%), compared to Democrats (41%) and Independents (43%). However, Democrats expressed the highest support for content moderation such as removal (79% vs. 49% for Republicans) and visibility reduction of unverified information (73% vs. 43% for Republicans).
Respondents age 55 or older support government regulation at higher levels (30%) than those age 18 to 34 (22%).
This month’s Media & Technology survey was conducted May 23 to 24, 2024, using Ipsos eNation Omnibus, a nationally representative online survey that measures attitudes and opinions of 1,003 adults across the United States.
Related Research
- “Shifting platform values in community guidelines: Examining the evolution of TikTok’s governance frameworks,” published by New Media & Society, 2023.
- “Do News Frames Really Have Some Influence in the Real World? A Computational Analysis of Cumulative Framing Effects on Emotions and Opinions About Immigration,” published by The International Journal of Press/Politics, 2023.
Survey Summaries
The Media & Technology Survey asked: Social media platforms have faced numerous controversies and debates over the past year. Based on your perceptions of social media platforms, please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements:
I think social media platforms should be regulated by the US government.
- Strongly Disagree: 18%
- Disagree: 28%
- Neither Agree or Disagree: 27%
- Agree: 20%
- Strongly Agree: 8%
If social media posts spread unverified information about a political candidate or election process, I think it is acceptable for social media platforms to remove content:
- Strongly Disagree: 7%
- Disagree: 9%
- Neither Agree or Disagree: 21%
- Agree: 37%
- Strongly Agree: 26%
If social media posts spread unverified information about a political candidate or election process, I think it is acceptable for social media platforms to lower the visibility of posted content (e.g., hide certain posts, limit the traffic to those posts):
- Strongly Disagree: 8%
- Disagree: 9%
- Neither Agree or Disagree: 26%
- Agree: 37%
- Strongly Agree: 20%
For social media platforms, I think an important value they should uphold is freedom of speech:
- Strongly Disagree: 1%
- Disagree: 5%
- Neither Agree or Disagree: 26%
- Agree: 42%
- Strongly Agree: 26%
For social media platforms, I think an important value they should uphold is the protection of users’ privacy:
- Strongly Disagree: 1%
- Disagree: 3%
- Neither Agree or Disagree: 12%
- Agree: 40%
- Strongly Agree: 44%
About the Media & Technology Survey
The Media & Technology Survey is an ongoing project of the Communication Research Center (CRC) at Boston University’s College of Communication. This month’s poll was conducted in English on May 23 to 24, 2024, using Ipsos eNation Omnibus, a nationally representative online survey that measures attitudes and opinions of 1,003 adults across the United States. This online survey has a credibility interval (CI) of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The data were weighted to the U.S. population data by region, gender, age and education. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error.
