Exclusive poll: Americans support removing troubling tweets
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Open embedded content from datawrapper.dwcdn.netElon Musk is likely to find out that there's not a big market for his campaign for more free speech on Twitter, according to an Ipsos poll shared exclusively with Axios.
The big picture: Most Americans don't have a problem with Twitter or other social media companies removing posts that include misinformation, promote violence or pose a risk to the public, according to the poll.
- They're more likely to oppose the removal of posts that promote political action or contain heated political rhetoric.
By the numbers: 73% of all respondents said they support removing posts that probably have false information, with just 20% saying they oppose removing those posts.
- 83% said they support removing posts that promote violence against particular individuals or groups.
- 79% said they support removing posts that pose a risk to the public.
- Americans are more divided on taking down political posts. Just 47% support removing posts that promote political action, while 40% oppose it.
- And 54% support removing posts that contain heated political rhetoric, with 36% opposed.
Between the lines: The poll also found that most Americans don't have strong opinions about what Musk's deal to buy Twitter will mean to the social media platform — unless they're extremely online.
- Just 39% of all respondents said Musk will improve the quality of discussion on Twitter, while 22% said it would get worse.
- But among self-described heavy Twitter users, 52% said his involvement would improve the quality of discussion, while 29% said it would get worse.
- Likewise, 44% of all respondents said Musk would lead Twitter to allow greater free speech, while 12% said he'd allow less free speech. But among heavy Twitter users, 54% said his involvement would lead to greater free speech, while 21% said it would result in less free speech.
- For non-users, by far the most common response was "don't know." (About four out of 10 said that about both questions.)
Methodology: This Ipsos Poll was conducted April 26-27 from a sample of 1,000 adults age 18 or older, randomly drawn from Ipsos’ online panel, partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling.
- The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all respondents.
