The Media Research Center (MRC) released a new poll Thursday, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, specifically looking at conservatives’ attitudes towards the social media platform, Twitter.
According to the poll, almost half of the conservatives (49 percent) surveyed do not trust Twitter to treat all of its users equally, regardless of their political beliefs.That’s nearly three times as many (16.7 percent) who trust Twitter.
Ten percent of conservatives said that they stopped using Twitter because of its censorship of conservatives, while another 11 percent said that they were considering leaving for the same reason. Out of those conservatives polled who actually use Twitter, this counts as almost half of conservative Twitter users.
When it came to trusting Twitter, more than a third of conservatives polled (34 percent) answered that their trust in the social media company had gone down since last year.Despite Twitter’s efforts to clean up its platform and promote “healthy conversation,” only 6 percent of conservatives were on board with CEO Jack Dorsey’s efforts, saying that their trust in Twitter had gone up since last year.
MRC’s VP of Business and Culture Dan Gainor stated:
“Twitter executives should be very worried about these results. The company is blatantly ignoring the interests of tens of millions of their customers and it shows. This is part of a disturbing trend. Social media companies have lost the trust of their users as they have continued to censor their platforms.
“That credibility gap is causing conservatives to kick Twitter to the curb. A large percentage of conservative Twitter users have either left the platform or claim they are considering doing so because of Twitter’s efforts to censor conservative speech. If the company wants to be viewed as a neutral platform for people of all backgrounds, then something must change. The evidence of conservative censorship is too clear to ignore.”
Highlights from the research:
(Asked of self-described conservatives)
Do you TRUST Twitter to treat all of its users equally, regardless of their political beliefs?
Yes: 16.7%
No: 49.0%
Not Sure: 34.3%
Is your TRUST in Twitter greater than, less than, or the same as it was one year ago?
Greater than it was a year ago: 6.3%
Less than it was a year ago: 34.2%
The same as it was a year ago: 59.5%
Which of the following BEST describes your position regarding Twitter?
I stopped using Twitter because of their censorship of conservatives: 9.7%
I am considering leaving Twitter because of their censorship of conservatives: 10.9%
I either stopped using Twitter or am considering leaving the platform for another reason: 9.5%
I am currently a Twitter user, and I am NOT considering leaving the platform: 17.8%
I have never used Twitter: 52.0%
Methodology:
This survey of 1,000 likely general election voters nationwide was conducted on September 18-24, 2018.
All interviews were conducted online; survey invitations were distributed randomly within predetermined geographic units. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in a nationwide general election.
This poll of 1,000 likely general election voters has an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval. The accuracy of the responses from the 351 self-described conservatives is +/- 5.2% at a 95% confidence interval.
MRCTV is a division of the Media Research Center.