Fox News Poll: Voters say IRS, Facebook have too much power

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There is clear concern among voters about big technology companies and big government.  

When it comes to Big Tech, one issue is bias. The latest Fox News national survey finds only 26 percent of voters trust social media companies to make fair decisions about the content posted on their platforms. Far more, 69 percent, don’t trust them to be fair.

While Democrats (37 percent) are twice as likely as Republicans (19 percent) to trust social media companies to make fair decisions about content, majorities of both distrust them (58 percent and 78 percent respectively).  

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL POLL RESULTS

Another issue is Big Tech’s size and reach. Roughly half of voters want to bust up some of the most high-profile tech companies: 53 percent favor breaking up Facebook, while 46 percent feel the same about Amazon, Apple, and Google.

Regulators agree. The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation Thursday aimed at reducing the power of these tech giants. Plus, the D.C. Attorney General filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon in May and last December 48 attorneys general brought a lawsuit against Facebook that seeks to break up the company.  

The sentiment on breaking up Big Tech holds steady even among current account holders.  Half (51 percent) of those with a Facebook account think the social media company should be broken up, while almost half of Amazon (45 percent) and Google (44 percent) account holders, as well as Apple device owners (47 percent), favor the breakup of those companies.  

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In general, Facebook continues to be the top tech company that concerns voters, as 63 percent say it has too much power.  It’s followed by Google at 55 percent, Apple at 52 percent, and Amazon at 51 percent.  Those numbers are all up since 2019.  

For comparison, 65 percent say the IRS is too powerful and 51 percent say the same about the FBI.  

Still, Uncle Sam tops them all: a 68 percent majority says the federal government has too much power.  It was 67 percent in 2019.  

That consistency masks major shifts that coincide with the change in political party control of the presidency. Currently, 82 percent of Republicans think the government is too powerful, up 13 points from 69 percent two years ago.  Fifty-four percent of Democrats agree, down 9 points from 63 percent in 2019.  That means what was a 6-point gap between Republicans and Democrats is now 28 points.  

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There’s a similar, though smaller, partisan gap between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to the IRS being too powerful (18-point gap), the FBI (18 points), and Facebook (13 points). 

Compared to 2019, Republicans are 10 points more likely to think Facebook has too much power, while Democrats are one point less likely to hold that view. 

Conducted June 19-22, 2021 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,001 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide who spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones.  The total sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.  

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.