Supermajority of voters say Big Tech companies could swing election to favored candidate

Americans overwhelmingly agree that Big Tech has become too powerful, especially in politics
Big Tech: An illustration picture taken in London on December 18, 2020 shows the logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone and a laptop screen.

New surveys by pollster Scott Rasmussen show U.S. voters' changing views on Big Tech companies, including that they have become too powerful.

According to the results for one poll, 68% of voters believe "it is more important to ensure that social media companies operate fairly rather than protecting the companies from government interference."

That figure fits hand-in-glove with the results of a second poll in which 78% of respondents said they believe Big Tech companies like Twitter, Google and Facebook could swing the results of an election to favor their preferred candidate.

To that end, 47% of voters believe Big Tech companies actively supported now-President Joe Biden during the last election cycle. Even among Democrats, that view was held by a 3-1 margin. Just 10% believe Big Tech companies worked to support Donald Trump, Rasmussen found.

As Congress and the courts continue to grapple with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, regarding whether Big Tech is responsible for third-party content, 63% of American voters say that because of the special protections the law currently affords Big Tech platforms, those companies should be required to abide by the First Amendment.

Among participants who said social media is "very Important" in their life, 75% want to see Big Tech companies provide free speech guarantees to their users.