Even as major Big Tech platforms remain under federal scrutiny for enforcing biased censorship, social media provides more Americans’ news than ever.
Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) found that, for the first time, social media has taken the number one slot as Americans’ primary news source, surpassing television. This could pose a problem, however, as Big Tech platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Bluesky, Chinese-owned TikTok and even X still censor free speech and key news stories.
While the RISJ report examined multiple countries, it noted the prominence of social media was particularly marked in the U.S., partly because of President Donald Trump’s preference for online platforms over legacy media. RISJ found 54 percent of Americans drew their news from social media, in a first-ever spike over TV, which is down 22 points since 2013. Both print and TV have become significantly less popular news sources since 2013, per the RISJ data, with the 18-to-25-year-old group particularly driving the switch to digital news.
Of course, legacy media has long been biased as diligently reported by MRC NewsBusters, but so are most Big Tech platforms.
In fact, MRC’s new study, released ahead of Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army (both June 14), showed that Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot is programmed with strong anti-American bias. “Yes, the American flag can be considered controversial, and its symbolism is often debated,” Gemini pontificated on June 6. “While it is widely seen as a symbol of unity, freedom, and national pride, it also carries different, sometimes conflicting, meanings for various groups of people.”
Gemini isn’t alone. While Big Tech infamously censored the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop exposé after being primed by the FBI, it is hardly the only instance of platforms shutting down outlets, reporters or stories, as MRC’s unique CensorTrack database shows.
In May, YouTube abruptly disabled the increasingly popular political commentary channel Real Talk Politiks after pressure from Canadian state media CBC. Last year, Communist Chinese government-tied TikTok, responding to pressure from The Washington Post, deleted content from news commentator Brett Cooper and TikTok influencer Nicole Bendayan discussing the harmful side effects of hormonal contraception.
In April, Instagram suddenly suspended news influencer and podcast host Hannah Faulkner’s account before admitting to MRC that the censorship was a mistake. Furthermore, in November 2024, Facebook disabled Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva over alleged complaints from other users, criticizing the outlet’s reporting on various Israeli military operations, including strikes on Hezbollah terrorists. Google also buried right-leaning media in search results for presidential election candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and later for Trump’s nominees, for at least three months altogether, before and after the election.
Free Speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
