Seventy percent of Americans say social media companies like Facebook and Twitter do more harm than good, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday.
Additionally, 47 percent of Americans think the U.S. government needs to be involved in regulating social media companies.
The survey comes as several countries around the world are considering regulating social media. Earlier this month, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress about Facebook and misinformation, saying the social media giant harms children, sows division and undermines democracy in pursuit of breakneck growth and “astronomical profits.”
"A sharp slap in the face for Facebook and its social media cohorts. 'You are not helping... you are hurting people,' say Americans," Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said of the results. "But should the government police the offenders? No consensus on that."
The survey also found that 52 percent of Americans say Facebook is doing a poor job of handling misinformation on its social media platform, compared with 27 percent who say it is doing a not so good job.
Haugen told the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection that Facebook has been “operating in the shadows” with no significant oversight and very little transparency.
"Facebook should not get a free pass on choices it makes to prioritize growth and virality and reactiveness over public safety," Haugen told the panel. "They shouldn’t get a free pass on that because they're paying for their profits right now with our safety."
"Almost no one outside of Facebook knows what happens inside of Facebook," she added. " The company intentionally hides vital information from the public, from the U.S. government, and from governments around the world.... No one truly understands the destructive choices made by Facebook except Facebook."
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,342 adults from October 15 - 18. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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