OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
A vast majority of people according to the newest Pew Research poll believe the news they receive over social media expresses a bias, thus giving too much power to big tech companies.
Pew Research reports, “As heated debate continues over how social media sites can improve the quality of news on their platforms while enforcing rules fairly, most Americans are pessimistic about these efforts and are highly concerned about several issues when it comes to social media and news.”
And:
Almost all Americans – about nine-in-ten (88%) – recognize that social media companies have at least some control over the mix of news people see. And most Americans feel this is a problem: About six-in-ten (62%) say social media companies have too much control over the mix of news that people see on their sites, roughly four times as many as say that they don’t have enough control (15%). Just 21% say that social media companies have the right amount of control over the news people see.
The largest social media platforms control the content on their feeds using computer algorithms that rank and prioritize posts and other content tailored to the interests of each user. These sites allow users to customize these settings, though previous research has found that many Americans feel uncertain about why certain posts appear in their news feed on Facebook specifically. Social media companies have also been public about their efforts to fight both false information and fake accounts on their sites.
According to the same poll, it’s not just any bias that these social media companies exhibit but one that favors the Democrat Party.
“A large majority of Americans believe that social media companies favor some news organizations over others. About eight-in-ten U.S. adults (82%) say social media sites treat some news organizations differently than others, about five times the share saying all news organizations are treated the same (16%),” Pew reports.
And:
Social media companies do have established policies when it comes to publishers, including prioritizing certain news sources, banning or limiting others that produce lower-quality content, and using their monetization policies to discourage particular behaviors.
Among those U.S. adults who say social media companies treat some news organizations differently than others, there is broad agreement that they favor three types: those that produce attention-grabbing articles (88%), those with a high number of social media followers (84%) and those whose coverage has a certain political stance (79%).
