| Friend,
2024 has been a momentous year for our movement. In a huge victory that Free Press had a hand in, we’ve already seen the Federal Communications Commission reinstate the Net Neutrality rules and its Title II authority to hold companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon accountable. On other fronts, we pushed back on House Republicans’ attacks on public media — and conducted a robust nationwide poll of 3,000 Americans to understand people’s beliefs about media, tech and democracy.1
As distrust in mainstream media rises and local journalism continues to collapse, people are increasingly turning to social media for information — only to find disinformation instead. We wanted to learn more about the consequences of these cultural shifts.
In short, we found that the current media and tech ecosystem is failing to meet people’s needs. A majority of respondents believes that more independent news outlets could safeguard against disinformation and benefit the health of our democracy.
These findings reinforce the need to hold social-media platforms accountable for the unchecked spread of disinformation and hate — especially ahead of this year’s elections.
While our poll is complete, we still want to hear from you, friend. Will you tell us more about your experiences and the issues you’re most concerned about in this moment? Are you also seeing disinformation on social media? We look forward to reading your responses.
Thank you so much,
Candace and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
1. “2024 Poll: Americans' Views on Media, Technology & Democracy,” Free Press, May 30, 2024  |
