Wealthier countries dislike social media the most, US sentiment has been level since 2022

Across the Globe, People Increasingly Say Social Media Is Harming Democracy

The global median still says social media has been good for democracy, 55 percent to 35 percent – the pessimism that dominates Anglophone commentary is a rich-country position, and the correlation with GDP per capita is 0.63. What is moving is the rest of the world catching up to the United States, not the United States getting worse: American negativity has sat flat since 2022 at 64 percent while the “social media divides us” reading rose by double digits in eight other countries.

Original: “Across the Globe, People Increasingly Say Social Media Is Harming Democracy” (https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/10/01/across-the-globe-people-increasingly-say-social-media-is-harming-democracy/?utm_source=cote&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=pew-social-media-democracy), Pew Research Center, October 1, 2026. (PDF (pg_2026.10.01_social-media-democracy_topline.pdf))

Summarized by AI.