POLL: American Voters are Overwhelmingly Concerned about Big Tech’s Fight Against Regulation

For Immediate Release
March 1, 2024
Contact: press@accountabletech.org

New polling from Accountable Tech and Data For Progress reveals that voters are concerned about Big Tech’s work to overturn regulations; new report sheds light on the hypocrisy of Big Tech leaders

Accountable Tech and Data For Progress released the results of a new poll this week which found that voters across party lines are concerned about Big Tech’s work to overturn corporate regulation through our legal system. Voters are also concerned about Big Tech hiding behind lobbying groups and funding aggressive litigation on their behalf in courts across the country.

“It’s clear that people across the country recognize that Big Tech’s aggressive legal work is an attempt to evade all responsibility to protect their users,” said Nicole Gill, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Accountable Tech. “This new survey data supports what we have known for years: that there is a strong public mandate for regulating tech companies and protecting policies that support online safety, platform accountability, and corporate transparency.”

Across party lines, an overwhelming majority of voters are concerned about Big Tech companies taking action to deregulate their industry both at the state and federal levels, including:

77% of voters are concerned about Big Tech continuing to profit off the data they collect from minors by suing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
76% of voters are concerned about Big Tech’s attempt to overturn restrictions on collecting data from minors;
75% of voters are concerned about Big Tech’s attempt to overturn policies requiring high-privacy settings by default for users who are minors.

The data also reveals that if Meta was successful in suing the federal government and was allowed to continue profiting from collecting the data on minors, close to three-quarters of voters across party lines (70%) would support additional efforts by Congress to regulate the company. This suggests that a majority of Americans want increased user protections.

While Big Tech CEOs publicly claim to be committed to online safety and privacy, they are simultaneously funding legal fights through NetChoice to overturn regulations in at least 27 states throughout the country. Accountable Tech recently published a new report, The Two Faces of Big Tech, that sheds light on this hypocrisy in detail.

The report evaluates statements issued by Big Tech CEOs on their support of regulatory change and legislation that reduce the harms caused by the internet, and the lawsuits issued by NetChoice throughout the country to fight the very same provisions and accountability measures. NetChoice’s revenue has skyrocketed in recent years, and it has become one of the most aggressive lobbying groups for tech in Washington, D.C. The firm’s total revenue was over $34 million in 2022 alone, making it one of the most well-funded groups fighting child safety protections, limits on harmful misinformation, and restrictions on companies to manipulate consumers.

###

Statements

Aug 28, 2024

Accountable Tech Statement on Advancement of California’s Landmark AI Safety Bill

Today, the California General Assembly passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047) — a landmark bill that would require AI developers to adhere to common sense safety guidelines for new AI models. The legislation, which is sponsored by California State Senator Scott Wiener, would introduce crucial guardrails around AI development, including requiring pre-deployment safety testing and third-party auditing. The bill will head back to the State Senate for a confirmation vote and then to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.

Statements

Aug 16, 2024

Accountable Tech on Appeals Court Ruling on the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act

Accountable Tech Executive Director and Co-Founder Nicole Gill issued the following statement on the Ninth Circuit Court’s narrowing of the district court’s injunction blocking California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code: The Ninth Circuit’s ruling makes clear that the lower court’s injunction was far too broad. The district court must now reconsider the safety-by-design and privacy-by-default protections central to the Age-Appropriate Design Code.