Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today released a new national poll conducted by AXIS Research. The poll found that 70% of voters oppose Congressional proposals to add new antitrust regulations for technology companies, and a majority of voters are more likely to oppose candidates who support such regulations.
Upon hearing descriptions of the proposed policies in the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, 79% of Republicans, 72% of Independents, and 59% of Democrats say they strongly oppose or somewhat oppose the bill which would impact services they rely on.
Candidates running for office who support the proposed regulations are likely to lose support from voters. Sixty-one percent of Republicans and 53% of Independents say they are more likely to oppose candidates who support the bill, and Democrat voters are more likely to oppose candidates who support the legislation (42%), than support candidates who back it (35%).
The poll reveals that more than anything else, voters want Congress focused on the economy (30%) and inflation (28%). And only 1% of voters think Congress should prioritize regulating technology companies, making it one of the lowest overall priorities for voters.
“Congress should abandon unnecessary, harmful changes to America’s antitrust laws that would drive up prices and reduce choices for American families,” said U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley. “It makes zero sense for Congress to pursue proposals that would make it illegal for companies to offer free shipping, discount goods, or complimentary services. Voters have made it clear they don’t like this bill and they want Congress to focus on taming inflation. Amazingly, the proposed legislation would likely lead to higher prices.”
Voters also see a direct correlation between government regulation and prices with 67% of voters worried that more government regulation of companies will increase prices on consumers.
And when it comes to technology, voters think the most important issue for Congress to focus on is protecting data privacy (21%) followed by protecting consumers from scams and malware (12%).
Additional insights from the AXIS Research national poll include:
- 64% are concerned about where the economy is headed.
- 88% of voters agree that competition in the market means consumers get to select the best products and services that are offered at the best prices.
- 81% of voters believe that market competition, not government regulation, is the fuel of American innovation.
- Only 32% believed that government regulators should play a larger role in determining which products and services are allowed to compete in the marketplace.
- When it comes to regulating companies, 54% of voters think the government should prioritize lowering prices for consumers while only 16% think they should prioritize keeping businesses from getting too big.
- When asked what should be done about tech regulation, only 5% support more regulation on big tech, 4% support breaking up large tech companies, and only 3% support limiting large tech firms from growing further.
The national poll surveyed 1,219 likely 2022 voters and was conducted July 5-10, 2022. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.86 percentage points.
Full poll results can be viewed online here.
