Link : https://www.theguardian.

com/technology/2017/oct/31/americans-evenly-split-over-need-to-
regulate-facebook-and-other-big-tech

The article reports on a survey conducted by Harvard poll which found that Americans are evenly
split on the issue of regulating big tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon.
According to the survey, 49% of Americans believe that these companies should be regulated more
than they are currently, while 51% believe that they are already regulated enough or should be
regulated less.

Positives

• One positive is that the survey provides an insight into the public opinion of big tech
companies and their regulation. It shows that there is a wide range of opinions on this issue
and that it is not a clear-cut decision.

• Additionally, the article notes that there are significant differences in opinion based on
political affiliation, with Democrats more likely to support increased regulation.

Negatives

• The study itself only surveyed about 2000 American adults, which is a small sample size in a
country of over 300 million people. It may not accurately reflect the opinion of the entire
demographic.
• The percentages shown are not weighted. “Strongly agree” and “agree” are taken at same
value. Same with the disagree option. If a larger proportion express strong opinions, it must
carry more weight, which is not the case here.

• Additionally, while the article reports that 49% of respondents believed that big tech
companies should be more regulated, it does not provide any information about what kind
of regulations respondents would like to see, which makes it difficult to interpret this
statistic.

It is important for readers to be aware of the limitations of the study and the potential biases that
may be present in data presentation