Digital Divide

Black and Hispanic adults remain less likely than whites to own a computer or have high speed internet at home. But smartphones are helping to bridge these differences.

Rural Americans have made large gains in adopting digital technology over the past decade, but they generally remain less likely than urban or suburban adults to have home broadband or own a smartphone.

Even as many aspects of the digital divide in the U.S. have narrowed, the digital lives of lower- and higher-income Americans remain markedly different.

Internet non-adoption is linked to certain demographic variables, including age, educational attainment, household income and community type.

Some 15% of U.S. households with school-age children do not have a high-speed internet connection at home. Some teens are more likely to face digital hurdles when trying to complete their homework.

Fast, reliable internet service has become broadly essential. But 24% of rural U.S. adults say access to high-speed internet is a major problem in their community.

The politically aware, digitally savvy and those more trusting of the news media fare better in differentiating factual statements from opinions.

At the same time, the contours of connectivity are shifting: One-in-five Americans (20%) are now ‘smartphone only’ internet users at home.

A global median of 75% want their news media to be unbiased when covering political issues, yet many say the news media do a poor job of reporting on political issues fairly.

People deal in varying ways with tensions about what information to trust and how much they want to learn. Some are interested and engaged with information; others are wary and stressed.