New Poll Shows Bipartisan Majority Of Americans Want Congress To Rein In Big Tech

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of a new national poll released today from American Family Voices and Athena found that more than 70 percent of Americans want Congress to take immediate action to break up Amazon, Google, and Facebook's monopolistic power over the American economy and end the chokehold these companies have over workers and small businesses.

The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, underscores growing concerns that the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and propaganda across social media are tempering the support many Americans once had for Big Tech companies. At a time when millions of Americans have lost their jobs and small businesses are closing at an unprecedented rate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans feel that Big Tech is making problems worse.

The survey's key findings include:

• 81 percent of voters say they are concerned about consolidation among Big Tech corporations hurting small businesses and consumers
• 78 percent of Republicans either strongly or somewhat agree that government needs to rein in Big Tech, while a total of 89 percent of Democrats agree
• 74 percent of Americans want stronger regulations to hold Big Tech companies responsible for harmful content posted on their platforms, including hate speech and false information about elections
• 74 percent of Americans believe the federal government should have more authority to limit Big Tech corporations' monopoly power so the government can stop them from buying up competitors
• 74 percent of Americans believe the federal government should break up large technology companies to reduce their power and increase competition and innovation—for example, separating Facebook and Instagram into two companies
• 61 percent of Americans would be more likely to reelect their senator if they voted to rein in the power of Big Tech companies

"The market dominance of Amazon, Facebook, and Google threatens the vitality of the U.S. economy and the fabric of our society," said American Family Voices Executive Director Lauren Windsor. "To date, they haven't been held accountable for their monopolistic practices and they behave as though they are untouchable. Rep. Cicilline's report was a big step forward in the fight to break up Big Tech, and this new polling shows that the majority of Americans support it as well as modernization of Section 230. Now, Congress must act."

"People know Big Tech monopoly power is bad for us because we see the effects every day," said Athena Director Dania Rajendra. "Our small businesses disappear, racist speech proliferates, and the jobs available to working class communities of color, always dangerous, have become only more so during the pandemic. While the Subcommittee's investigation should end the tech companies' spin and gaslighting, this poll tells Congress that the American public wants them to break up and regulate dangerous monopolies before it's too late for our democracy."

The full poll results and topline memo can be found here.

Last week, the House Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee released a report that found that Amazon, Facebook, and Google leveraged their dominant positions in their respective spheres to drive out competing companies or by buying them up to consolidate market share. Comparing them to the monopolies of the "era of oil barons and railroad tycoons," the report—which came after a 16-month, bipartisan investigation—recommended comprehensive policy reforms and remedies to restore free and fair competition.

The full report can be found here.

SOURCE American Family Voices