Survey of 11,178 US adults: 48% say the government should restrict false info online, up from 39% in 2018; 59% think tech companies should, up from 56% in 2018
Pew Research Center : Tweets: @pewresearch , @ggreenwald , @asmitch , @pewresearch , @pewjournalism , @elisashearer , @heathercampbell , and @pewresearch Tweets: @pewresearch : Roughly half of U.S. adults (48%) now say the government should take steps to restrict false information online, even if it means losing some freedom to access and publish content. That is up from 39% in 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... Glenn Greenwald / @ggreenwald : This is what the crusade by corporate media & liberals for more online censorship has fostered: a population where 50% say *the government* should censor the internet in the name of stopping disinformation. They've trained people to be authoritarians, craving state censorship. https://twitter.com/... Amy Mitchell / @asmitch : Interesting to see the preference across demographic groups measured for tech companies to take steps to stop false information online even if it limits information freedoms rather than making those freedoms paramount: https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... @pewresearch : A majority of adults (59%) continue to say technology companies should take steps to restrict misinformation online, even if it puts some restrictions on Americans' ability to access and publish content. https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... @pewjournalism : % of US adults who say... - US govt should take steps to restrict false info online, even if it limits freedom of info: 39% ('18) ↗️ 48% ('21) - Freedom of info should be protected, even if it means false info can be published: 58% ('18) ↘️ 50% ('21) https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... Elisa Shearer / @elisashearer : Another example of increasing political polarization in Americans' media and information attitudes: https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... Heather Anne Campbell / @heathercampbell : this is insane. we don't need the government censoring the internet. if anything, the government should provide higher education and critical reading skills to the population for free so that humans can determine the veracity of information online https://twitter.com/... @pewresearch : Partisan divisions on the role of government and tech companies in addressing online misinformation have emerged since 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
The ground under online speech has shifted since 2018, when a [[a:932436|Gallup-Knight survey found 85% of Americans thought platforms weren't doing enough against fake news]] but few wanted Washington involved. Pew's new 11,178-person survey captures the next step: support for government action on false information rose nine points in three years to 48%, and the share prioritizing free access even if falsehoods spread fell from 58% to 50%.
The shift isn't uniform — Pew reports partisan divisions have opened up since 2018 over whether government or companies should act, and critics like Glenn Greenwald immediately framed the numbers as the product of a media-led censorship push. That reaction lands on top of long-running suspicion: back in 2018, [[a:931015|72% of adults already said they believed social media firms censor opposing political views]].
First-order effects
- Platforms now hold a clear public mandate for stricter moderation — 59% want tech companies restricting false information, up from 56% — giving them cover to tighten enforcement without waiting for legislation.
Second-order effects
- Lawmakers gain polling support for misinformation bills, but they run into the same electorate that by 2022 had cooled on tech regulation, when support for regulating tech giants fell to 44% from 56% a year earlier — so pressure routes back to the platforms themselves.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, content rules consolidate inside private platform policy rather than law: the public simultaneously wants false information restricted and distrusts concentrated platform power — 78% told Pew in 2024 that social media firms have too much political power — leaving unelected moderators setting speech norms for the country.
The trend: Americans are trading free-speech absolutism for a demand that someone restrict false information online, while remaining unwilling to hand that job clearly to either government or the platforms.