Internet search engines are biased to favor liberals, two-thirds of Republican adults say in the latest Axios/SurveyMonkey poll.
"The survey shows that tech companies will have a hard time convincing the public that their algorithms aren't built to favor any point of view, regardless of the reality," Axios reported Thursday. "The distrust is driven largely by the right, but a significant minority of Independents believe the results are biased toward the left, too."
The survey found 46 percent of U.S. adults do not believe Internet search results are biased to favor either party, but among those who believe there is bias, it lies heavily on the side of liberals (36 percent) compared to conservatives (just 12 percent).
Much of the 36 percent belief in bias is from the Republican adults in the poll, as 67 percent believe search results are biased to favor liberals, while just 9 percent believe it is biased to favor conservatives and 22 percent of Republicans say search results are not biased.
"The bottom line: The public demands for regulation of tech companies has cooled a bit," Axios concluded. "But the distrust of search engines like Google from the right — fueled in part by President Trump's complaints — deepens the broader doubts that social media portrays information objectively."
The Axios/SurveyMonkey poll was conducted Aug. 30-Sept. 3, surveying 2,698 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
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