A majority of Americans (53%) do not believe that increasing the availability of affordable high-speed internet connections should be a federal government priority. This includes a quarter of Americans (26%) that say spreading broadband-internet access shot not at all be attempted by the government. Another 27% said spreading high-speed internet was “not too important.” A 41% minority believe that the spreading affordable broadband access should be an important (30%) or top (11%) for the federal government. Americans who do not use the internet are the most opposed to spreading broadband access. Fully 45% of non-users say the government should not attempt to make affordable broadband available to everyone, just 5% say access should be a top priority. Younger adults and African Americans are the most likely to favor a government effort to expand broadband access. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.