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![A man records a video of a legislative candidate's social media account on January 10, 2024 in Tangerang, Banten Province, Indonesia. (Bey Ismoyo/AFP via Getty Images)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SR_24.02.23_social-media-democracy_feature-jpg.webp?w=640)
Social media has increased public access to information and created a platform for political action. But some say it is harmful to democracy.
This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on the perceived impact of social media on democracy in 27 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.
For non-U.S. data, this report includes a survey of 20,944 respondents in 18 developed countries conducted from February 14 to June 3, 2022, and eight emerging and developing countries. Based on a survey of 10,235 respondents in countries (Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya). , Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa) from February 25 to May 22, 2023. Data were collected both in person and by telephone. In Australia, we used a mixed-mode probability-based online panel.
In the U.S., we surveyed 3,581 U.S. adults from March 21 to March 27, 2022. All participants in the U.S. survey are members of the center’s American Trends Panel (ATP). ATP is a nationally recruited online survey panel. Random sampling of residential addresses. In this way, nearly every American adult has the opportunity to choose. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, and other categories. Learn more about ATP’s methodology here.
To compare educational groups across countries, we standardize educational levels based on the United Nations’ International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).
- In India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Brazil, the lower education category is below secondary education and the higher education category is above secondary education.
- In Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico, the lower education category is secondary education Below, high school refers to middle school or above.
- In the United States, the low education category is at least a college degree, and the high education category is at least a college degree.
This section presents the questions and answers used in the analysis, as well as the research methodology.
![The divergence bar graph shows that in most countries surveyed, a majority of people say social media is good for democracy.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SR_24.02.23_social-media-democracy_1.png?w=620)
As the use of social media grows globally, people in 27 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center in 2022-2023 generally believe that social media is good for democracy, not bad. ing. In fact, majorities in 20 of these countries say social media benefits their democracy.
People in emerging economies are particularly likely to say that social media has advanced democracy. The ratings were particularly positive in Nigeria and Mexico, where nearly eight in 10 (77% each) said social media had a positive effect on democracy.
In other countries, such as the Netherlands and France, people are much less confident, with more people saying social media has had a negative impact on democracy than positive. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for regulation of social media to curb the spread of misinformation. He also suggested that access to social media should be blocked in times of social unrest, such as riots over police brutality in France, in 2023.
On the other hand, Americans Even if only slightly More likely to evaluate social media positively. Just 34% of U.S. adults say social media is good for American democracy, while nearly twice as many (64%) say it’s bad.
Related: Social media is seen as largely good for democracy in many countries, but the US is far off the mark.
The role of social media in spreading disinformation is being widely debated ahead of the crucial US election. Majorities in both parties say social media has played an important role, but bad When it comes to democracy in the United States, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more likely to say so than Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters (74% vs. 57%).
How do views on social media and democracy differ by age, education, and other factors?
Year
![The dot plot shows that younger people are more likely than older people to say that social media is good for democracy.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SR_24.02.23_social-media-democracy_2.png?w=640)
In the 14 countries surveyed, younger people were more likely than older people to say social media is good for democracy.
This difference is most pronounced in Poland, where 86% of adults under 40 say social media has benefited their country’s democracy, compared to 56% of adults over 40. . In 10 additional countries surveyed, double-digit differences exist.
education
In 13 countries, well-educated adults are more likely than less-educated adults to say social media is good for democracy. In South Africa, for example, there is a 22 percentage point difference between the educated and the uneducated on this question.
(Because education systems differ from country to country, the achievement levels of ‘more education’ and ‘less education’ also differ in this analysis. Please read the ‘How we did this’ section for more information. )
income
In some countries, high-income adults are more likely than low-income adults to say social media is good for democracy. However, the opposite is true in Belgium and the United States.
Use of social media
![Dot plot showing that social media users are significantly more likely than non-users to say social media benefits democracy.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SR_24.02.23_social-media-democracy_3.png?w=640)
People who use social media are significantly more likely than non-users to say that social media benefits their country’s democracy. In every country surveyed, there was a difference of at least 10 points between social media users and non-users on this question. But non-users are also less likely to give an opinion on this question in most places.
For example, in Israel, social media users are 77 percentage points more likely than non-users to say social media is good for democracy (82% vs. 5%). However, in Israel, only 5% of social media users refused to answer, compared to about a quarter of non-social media users.
And in countries such as Poland, South Africa, Australia and Japan, social media users are far more likely than non-users to express positive views about the impact on democracy. Across all countries surveyed, social media users are at least 10 points more likely to take this stance than non-users.
Note: This section describes the questions and answers used in the analysis, as well as the research methodology.
![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SnehaGubbala-20221213.jpg?w=240)
Sneha Gubara She is a research assistant focused on global attitudes research at the Pew Research Center.
![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Sarah_Austin.jpg?w=200)
sarah austin I am a research assistant specializing in the study of global attitudes at the Pew Research Center.
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