Almost twice as many American adult citizens (53%) said the government should be permitted to monitor the social media accounts of applicants wanting to immigrate to the United States as do not, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.
Only 27% said the government should not be allowed, while 19% were unsure.
Other results from the survey, as reported in Breibart, include:
* A vast majority of Republicans (78%) said the government should monitor the social media of these applicants, while (14%) said it should not and 8% were unsure.
* Among Democrats, 44% said the government should not monitor the social media activity of these individuals, 34% said it should and 21% were not sure.
* When independents were asked the question, 48% agree that the government should monitor the social media activity of these applicants, 25% said it should not, and 27% said they are not sure.
* In another question, when asked, “How much do you trust the U.S. government to determine whether content on a person's social media account should disqualify them from immigrating,“ only 39% across the board said they trusted the government either a great deal or fair amount, while 46% said they trust the government in this capacity not very much or not at all.
* Thirty-two percent of those in the survey said the main goal of this — screening the social media accounts of certain immigrants applying for visas — is to “improve national security,“ while 23% said it is to “suppress political dissent,“ and 27% said it is both of those “equally.“
The survey was carried out May 30 through June 2 among 1,610 respondents. It has a +/- 3.2% margin of error.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.