Young Americans have little faith in Facebook to “do the right thing,” a new poll examining peoples’ attitudes toward politics and public service found.
The poll, recently conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, asked the survey-takers how often they “trust” institutions — such as Facebook, the US military, the United Nations, the Supreme Court, government and the police — “to do the right thing.”
Out of the 16 options listed, a low of just 19 percent of respondents said they trusted Facebook “all or most of the time,” while 79 percent of those polled said they trusted the social media company “some of the time or never.”
Those who took the survey said they felt similar about Twitter with just 21 percent saying they trust it to do the right thing all or most of the time.
Only Wall Street and “the media” scored in a comparable range. A total of 20 percent of those polled said they trusted Wall Street do the right thing all or most of the time, while 22 percent answered the same about the media.
Other institutions scored much higher.
More than half of those polled or 58 percent of them said they trusted their college or university administration to do the right thing all or more of the time.
Forty-nine percent answered the same about the US military, 47 percent about the Supreme Court, 45 percent about the United Nations, 45 percent about police, 42 percent about local government, 39 percent about Google, 38 percent about the president, and 32 percent about the federal government.
The poll surveyed 2,513 Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 from Mar. 9 through Mar. 21.
Thirty-three percent of those surveyed said that generally social media has had a more positive impact on their ability to express their political voice.
Forty-eight percent of those polled said they believe that the US government should regulate big tech companies more than it does now, while 68 percent agreed that social media companies should “remove misleading claims on their platforms.”
Additionally, 52 percent of those surveyed found Twitter’s decision to permanently ban former President Donald Trump from its platform “necessary.”
Thirty-seven percent said they hold Trump “fully” responsible for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 US Capitol riot.
Sixty-two percent of those polled said they voted for President Biden in the 2020 election, while 26 percent said they voted for Trump.
