A huge swath of people, including 90% of Republicans, believe that big social media sites censor political views.
Overall, according to the latest Pew Research Center report, 73% believe that political viewpoints are being censored or banned.
Among Republicans who have seen President Trump’s tweets corrected or removed, and newly elected Florida House Republican nominee Laura Loomer banned, the belief it is happening to them is even higher than two years ago. It is 90% today, up from 85% in 2018.
And, said Pew, Republicans believe that the social media companies favor liberals.
Social media firms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, have been under fire for their handling of political posts. Some believe the sites have gone too far, others not far enough.
Pew easily found that difference among partisans when asked if postings should be policed.
“Partisanship is a key factor in views about the issue. Fully 73% of Democrats say they strongly or somewhat approve of social media companies labeling posts on their platforms from elected officials as inaccurate or misleading. On the other hand, 71% of Republicans say they at least somewhat disapprove of this practice. Republicans are also far more likely than Democrats to say they have no confidence at all that social media companies would be able to determine which posts on their platforms should be labeled as inaccurate or misleading (50% vs. 11%),” read the Pew report.
