Racine Sun

Citizens across the nation are growing increasingly concerned about the size of technology companies and the influence they exert over the government.

According to a study by Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans (56%) believe that major technology companies should be more heavily regulated than they currently are, compared to 47% of Americans in 2020 and 51% in 2018. About 68% believe that major technology companies have more power and influence than they should. 

Another study by Pew Research Center found that most Americans believe social media sites attempt to censor political viewpoints. The study found that 73% of Americans believe that it is very (37%) or somewhat (36%) likely that social media tech companies are intentionally censoring opinions they disagree with. Only 25% of Americans believe this is not likely. Ninety percent of Republicans believe it likely that social media sites censor viewpoints.

Wisconsin State Sen. Julian Bradley has introduced a bill—LRB 337/1—which would compel technology companies to reveal their algorithms and outline the reasoning for who gets censored and who can post freely on Facebook and Twitter, The Center Square reported.

"It's time to ensure that Mark Zuckerberg and his Silicon Valley liberal allies cannot restrict Wisconsinites' political speech," Bradley said, according to The Center Square. "Free expression is one of the most vital components of our democratic republic. We must ensure our citizens can engage in political speech unfiltered and uncensored by Big Tech. It's time for Facebook and Twitter to consistently and fairly enforce their own rules."

NPR News reported that a Georgia House Panel is currently deliberating on the best way to promote free speech on social media sites. Rather than ignoring the issue or imposing extensive regulations on sites like Facebook and Twitter, Georgia Republicans are adopting a more nuanced approach that balances the First Amendment and the rights of private businesses. State Rep. Chuck Martin stated that social media companies should not censor specific viewpoints, but he also argued that the government shouldn’t overstep its bounds when regulating private entities.

“This is just something that one has to look and be very careful that there’s not an overstep and be very careful that we don’t express our subjectivity over the top of another set of subjectivity,” Martin said, according to NPR News. “Because by doing that, we’re not making it any better, and we could actually be making it worse.”

In South Carolina, State Rep. Mike Burns (R-Greenville) has introduced new legislation to stop social media censorship. Dubbed the Stop Social Media Censorship Act, H. 3450 would ban social media companies from censoring the comments, posts or shares of an individual who is not calling for violence, posting obscene material, bullying minors or urging criminal conduct.

“Young people are supposed to be able to get exposed to both sides of the argument and they’re short-circuiting the process,” Burns told Conservative Firing Line. “We want everyone to be heard. Every single day or two we hear about someone’s point of view getting cut off.”

The study by Pew Research Center found that Americans who have heard more about debates regarding the regulation of tech companies are far more likely to support regulations against Big Tech than less informed individuals—69% vs 42%.

The biggest jump in support for more regulation was among Liberal Democrats which jumped from 52% to 70% since last year. 

Moderate or liberal Republicans were the only groups that showed no statistically significant increase in support for more regulations.