Most Americans think social media has too much control over news, according to poll mainstream media quietly ignored

Some 62 percent of Americans believe social media exerts too much control over what news people see, and most think online platforms treat some news outlets differently than others for the wrong reasons, a new poll shows.

Not only do social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter distort the mix of news that reaches their users, but their actions result in a worse mix, according to 55 percent of Americans responding to a Pew Research poll published this week. Just 15 percent believe the platforms’ meddling results in a better mix.

Republicans are even more emphatic – three quarters say social media has too much control, and two thirds disapprove of the mix of news the platforms generate. However, 53 percent of Democrats agree Facebook and Twitter’s control is excessive, and 49 percent find the news mix distasteful.

More than half of respondents highlight one-sided news (53 percent) and inaccurate news (51 percent) as “very big problems” in social media’s influence on news. Censorship is a major problem for 35 percent – as much as “uncivil discussions about the news” – while users being banned is a major concern for just 24 percent.

Of the 82 percent of Americans who believe social media platforms treat some news outlets differently than others, most (88 percent) see producing clickbait (“attention-grabbing articles,” in Pew’s words) as a factor in currying favor with online platforms. Nearly as many (84 percent) see social media popularity as a factor, while 79 percent view an outlet’s political stance as a deciding factor. Only 34 percent think an outlet’s “high reporting standards” are favored by social media platforms, and just 18 percent view political neutrality as important to platforms.

The majority of respondents from across the political spectrum agreed that the posts they saw on social media were skewed toward one end or the other – 64 percent of Republicans said the news they saw was “liberal” or “very liberal,” and 37 percent of Democrats agreed. Just nine percent of Republicans, and 18 percent of Democrats, said the news they saw was “conservative” or “very conservative.”

Despite their apparent dissatisfaction with social media’s handling of news, the share of US adults who get their news from social media continues to increase year over year, according to Pew. Some 55 percent of respondents “sometimes” or “often” get news from social media, and 52 percent specifically use Facebook to get their news. YouTube is a distant second – just 28 percent get their news there – and Twitter is a far-off third, attracting 17 percent of newshounds.

Unfortunately for three fifths of the American population, Facebook is poised to take even more control over the news users see, with a ‘News Tab’ to be rolled out in the near future featuring stories from approved news outlets.

Perhaps with that future in mind, many of the biggest mainstream news publishers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, declined to cover Pew’s survey, which polled 5,107 US adults in July for their opinions.

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