Social Media Seen as Mostly Good for Democracy Across Many Nations, But U.S. is a Major Outlier
Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but they also say it informs and raises awareness.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but they also say it informs and raises awareness.
There are differences by age in Americans’ attitudes about whether the U.S. should focus more on domestic problems or be more globally active.
The share of the public that supports authoritarian systems ranges from 85% in India to 8% in Sweden.
67% of U.S. adults express a favorable view of the Israeli people; a much smaller share (48%) says the same about the Israeli government.
Many U.S. adults describe cyberattacks from other countries (71%) and the spread of misinformation online (70%) as major threats to the U.S.
Perceptions of strong partisan conflict are most widespread among adults in South Korea, the United States, Israel, France and Hungary.
In an open-ended question allowing Americans to name which country they see as the greatest threat to the U.S., 50% name China.
As President Joe Biden embarks on his first visit to Israel as president, he does so against an amicable backdrop: A majority of adults in both Israel and the United States have favorable views of the other country and the current state of bilateral relations, though Americans’ views on Israel differ sharply by party and age.
Older Americans, those with more education and men tend to score better on our 12-question quiz about international knowledge. Republicans and Democrats have roughly the same levels of international knowledge, while conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats tend to score better than their more moderate counterparts.
Much larger shares of people in most nations see China’s influence growing than say the same of the United States.
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