About seven in 10 Americans say social media companies have too much power and influence in politics, with Republicans and Democrats largely agreeing, a Pew Research Center survey found.
A smaller majority, 55%, said the same about U.S. news organizations, according to Pew's analysis released Friday.
Parties agree on social media, differ on news organizations
Overall, 69% said social media companies have too much political power, while 6% said they have too little. For news organizations, 14% said they have too little influence.
The share viewing social media companies as too powerful was similar among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, at 71%, and Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, at 69%.
Views of news organizations were more divided: 69% of Republicans and Republican leaners said they have too much political influence, compared with 43% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
The survey asked respondents separately about the political power of social media companies and news organizations. It measured perceptions of influence, rather than independently establishing how much power either group exercises.
Pew noted that social media companies shape what people see through decisions about removing or flagging content and through algorithms that distribute posts. Its earlier research found most people who used social media for news in 2024 believed the platforms influenced their news exposure at least somewhat.
How the survey was conducted
The findings come from 3,488 U.S. adults surveyed June 22-28 through Pew's American Trends Panel. The nationally representative survey was weighted to reflect the adult population and conducted online and by telephone in English and Spanish by SSRS. The margin of sampling error for the full sample was plus or minus 1.8 percentage points; subgroup margins are larger.
Pew conducted the survey as part of the Pew-Knight Initiative, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. These are national findings; the analysis does not provide a separate New York estimate.
The political-power questions are distinct from questions about whether journalism is gaining or losing influence. In a separate 2025 survey cited by Pew, 49% said journalists were losing influence and 15% said they were gaining it. That earlier finding used a different question and should not be read as a year-to-year change in the new measure.
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