The forgotten fight: Big Tech versus equality

The recent news that Sheryl Sandberg would be stepping down from her role as chief operating officer at Meta has reignited the national debate surrounding the role of Big Tech companies in the United States.

Having conducted several public opinion polls on the subject within the last couple of months — nationally in early April, and statewide in Louisiana and Colorado in late May — this is without question an enduring hot-button issue for Americans.

Indeed, our polling consistently shows that the public is broadly concerned about Big Tech’s outsized influence — over our daily lives, the economy, and the news and information we read — and strongly desires reforms to rein in these monopolies. 

Americans across the country view this not just as a fight to reduce the power of these massive monopolies, but as a fight to restore equality and fairness to our major economic industries.

To be sure, the fact that our studies in Colorado and Louisiana were conducted nearly two months after the national poll — and during this time, other national crises like inflation and rising crime have metastasized — is indicative of the staying power of this issue.

Americans are particularly supportive of curbing Big Tech’s control over the news and publishing industries, which companies like Facebook and Google have come to dominate through manipulative practices. Sandberg’s tenure at Meta coincided with the rise of Facebook News: a news aggregator site that drives traffic (and profit) by expropriating the work of smaller and local operators.

Accordingly, when my firm conducted national polling on the issue in April, we found that 4 in 5 Americans — a remarkably strong majority — are concerned that Big Tech companies have too much power over the news and publishing industries (79 percent) and manipulate these industries for their own gain (78 percent). 

The statewide polls conducted nearly two months later in Colorado and Louisiana revealed similar levels of broad-based public concern about the undue power that Big Tech companies have over the news and publishing industries — clearly underscoring the staying power of this issue. 

At least three-quarters of Coloradoans and Louisianans expressed concern that Big Tech companies have too much power over the news and publishing industries and that Big Tech companies manipulate the news and publishing industries for their own gain.

In that same vein, roughly three-quarters of respondents in all three surveys — nationally in April, and in Colorado and in Louisiana in late May — agreed that “Big Tech’s monopoly over the news and publishing industries is a threat to the free press and unfair to publishers, especially to small and local outlets.”

In addition to being widely concerned about this problem, our polling found that the American public wants change, and is looking to their elected leaders in Washington, D.C. to deliver.

In our national study, 4 in 5 Americans agreed with statements to this effect, including “I support Congress taking steps to give small and local publishers more power in negotiations with Big Tech companies” (81 percent) as well as “Congress needs to rein in Big Tech by passing reforms that would make the publishing industry fairer for smaller media entities and local operators” (77 percent).

Thus, it follows that majorities of Americans also support Congress increasing regulations on Big Tech in order to curb their power over the news and publishing industries (57 percent). 

Importantly, the public also indicates that a political candidate’s support for these reforms — or lack thereof — could impact their vote in an election. By roughly a three-to-one margin, Americans would be more likely, rather than less likely, to back political candidates for Congress who support the aforementioned reforms. 

Moreover, when we polled these sentiments nearly two months later with Coloradoans and Louisianans, adults in both states expressed similarly high levels of agreement with statements underscoring the need to regulate Big Tech, as well as widespread support for Congress taking action to restore fairness and equity to the news and information industry.

At least 3 in 5 adults in both Colorado and Louisiana support Congress increasing regulations on Big Tech in order to curb their power over the news and publishing industries.

Similar to our national findings, adults in both states indicate that whether or not a candidate supports these particular reforms may have political consequences. By more than 30-point margins, both Coloradoans and Louisianans would be more likely, rather than less likely, to support a candidate for Congress who backed these measures. 

In terms of real-world action that Congress can take now, our polling assessed each group’s support for a specific bill that was proposed earlier this year. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) is a bipartisan proposal that would empower small news publishers to negotiate fair terms for use of their content by Big Tech companies. 

Notably, Congress taking steps to pass the JCPA was supported by a strong majority of Americans (70 percent) when the question was asked in early April, and by similarly strong majorities of both Coloradoans (69 percent) and Louisianans (64 percent) two months later.

Likewise, around two-thirds of respondents in all three surveys believed it was important for Congress to pass the JCPA, and roughly 7 in 10 agreed that: “elected officials who oppose the JCPA are allowing Big Tech companies to continue manipulating the news and publishing industries for their own gain, leaving small and local publishers powerless.”

Ultimately, in my experience as a professional pollster who has worked in the industry for more than 40 years, it is rare for an issue or reform to garner this level of consistent and broad-based support from Americans across the country. 

These findings present a clear call to action to our leaders — across the country, and especially in Colorado and Louisiana — who now have a clear mandate from their constituents to rein in Big Tech, pass the JCPA, and restore fairness and equity to one of America’s most vital economic industries.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to former President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.”