Public Attitudes Toward Technology Companies
The belief that technology companies are politically biased and/or engaged in suppression of political speech is especially widespread among Republicans. Fully 85% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents think it likely that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints, with 54% saying this is very likely. And a majority of Republicans (64%) think major technology companies as a whole support the views of liberals over conservatives.
On a personal level, 74% of Americans say major technology companies and their products and services have had more of a positive than a negative impact on their own lives. And a slightly smaller majority of Americans (63%) think the impact of these companies on society as a whole has been more good than bad. At the same time, their responses highlight an undercurrent of public unease about the technology industry and its broader role in society. When presented with several statements that might describe these firms, a 65% majority of Americans feel the statement “they often fail to anticipate how their products and services will impact society” describes them well – while just 24% think these firms “do enough to protect the personal data of their users.” Meanwhile, a minority of Americans think these companies can be trusted to do the right thing just about always (3%) or most of the time (25%), and roughly half the public (51%) thinks they should be regulated more than they are now.
These are among the key findings of this Pew Research Center survey, conducted May 29-June 11 among 4,594 U.S. adults.
Majorities of Republicans say major technology companies favor the views of liberals over conservatives and that social media platforms censor political viewpoints they find objectionable
As technology companies have taken on an increasingly central role in the media landscape and broader economy, they have been drawn into a number of controversies relating to the perception that they actively support or promote certain viewpoints over others. For instance, social media sites and other online platforms have faced charges from conservative 
Although Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see an anti-conservative bias among major technology companies, this attitude does not translate into a broader desire by Republicans for increased regulation of these companies. Just over half (57%) of Democrats and Democratic leaners think major technology companies should be regulated more heavily than they are now, but that share falls to 44% among Republicans and Republican leaners. Indeed, 12% of Republicans say these companies should be regulated less than they are currently. That view is shared by 7% of Democrats.
More broadly, the public places technology companies somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of their overall power in the economy relative to other industries and commercial entities. Asked about the relative clout of eight different groups or entities, just over half the public (55%) says technology companies have too much power and influence, similar to the share (57%) that thinks the energy industry has an outsize influence on the economy today. Larger shares of the public feel that pharmaceutical companies, advertisers, or banks and other financial institutions have too much power and influence today, while smaller shares think this is true of labor unions, small businesses or the farming and agriculture industry.
Americans also are generally downbeat about the role and impact of tech firms when presented with statements about those firms. Majorities of Americans feel these companies create products and services that mostly benefit people who already have advantages in life (64% think this describes these companies well) and that they often fail to anticipate how their products and services will impact society (65%). At the same time, just 24% think these firms “do enough to protect users' personal data” – and 75% feel this is not an accurate description of major technology companies.
Generational differences exist around some – but not all – of these questions about the role of technology companies in society
Although differing shares of older and younger adults adopt and use various technologies in their own lives, their views of the technology industry itself diverge in certain ways but align in others.
On some of these issues, younger and older Americans express similar attitudes. For instance, they have comparable levels of trust in major technology firms to consistently do what is right; are equally likely to think that these companies support the views of a particular gender or political affiliation over others; and are equally likely to say the impact of these companies on society as a whole has been more good than bad.
On other questions, there are more pronounced differences between the attitudes of older and younger Americans – with older adults typically taking a more broadly pessimistic view of these firms and their overall impact. For instance, larger shares of older adults think major technology companies often fail to anticipate how their products and services will impact society, that these companies have too much power and influence in today's society, and that they should be regulated more than they are currently. And while sizable shares of both age groups think it likely that social media companies censor political speech that those companies find objectionable, that view is shared by a larger majority of older (81%) than younger (67%) adults.
