About the Flash Poll
On October 31 and November 1, 2017, Google, Twitter and Facebook sent their general counsels to testify before House and Senate intelligence committees to answer questions about the role their platforms played in the dissemination of Russian-instigated disinformation designed to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In the days immediately after the hearings, Edelman fielded a flash poll among the U.S. general population. The survey examined the various definitions people have for fake news, the role people believe social platforms play in disseminating fake news, and whether the social platforms require more oversight and regulation. We provide breakdowns of the findings by political affiliation, and among Silicon Valley-based tech employees. The survey results are further enhanced by a social listening analysis of the topic clusters, share of voice and sentiment around fake news-related conversations during the week of the hearings.
Given that the 2018 Trust Barometer, to be released in January, will include a deep look at trust and the media, we are publishing the results as the first special supplement to our 2018 report.
