Voters Want Social Media Companies to Protect Minors From Harmful Online Content
By Tenneth Fairclough II and Isa Alomran
In recent months, U.S. lawmakers have made headlines for grilling the CEOs of tech companies like Meta, X, and Discord about their efforts to keep children who use their platforms safe.
New polling from Data for Progress and Accountable Tech examined voters’ attitudes toward requiring platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to ensure minors are protected from harmful online content, and finds that voters overwhelmingly support such protections
First, voters were asked whether platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube should or should not be required to protect minors from harmful online content. The survey finds that the vast majority of likely voters (83%) believe these platforms should be required to protect their minor users. This sentiment enjoys bipartisan backing, with large majorities of Democrats (87%), Independents (77%), and Republicans (82%) saying that social media platforms should be required to protect minors.
Data for Progress also asked voters whether they support or oppose requiring platforms like Facebook to review and revise their platforms’ designs, with the goal of protecting minors from harmful content like online bullying, harassment, and sexual exploitation.
Voters back such a requirement. Specifically, 85% say Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube should be required to revise their platforms’ designs to protect minors from harmful content, including 58% of voters who strongly support this requirement. Voters across party lines share similar views: 86% of Democrats, 80% of Independents, and 86% of Republicans support this requirement.
These findings highlight voters’ concerns about the impact of social media on minors, and support action that minimizes minors’ exposure to harmful content.
Tenneth Fairclough II (@tenten_wins) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Isa Alomran is a lead analyst at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From May 3 to 4, 2024, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,206 U.S. likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.