Americans say Facebook is worse for society than Walmart or McDonald's

pulse

February 1, 2018 6:51 PM

Facebook has spent the last several months working to eliminate fake news from users' feeds and counter claims that the platform is addictive.

A survey of 2,000 Americans showed people believe Facebook has more negative effects on society than Walmart or McDonald's.
Facebook has spent the last several months working to eliminate fake news from users' feeds.
Former Facebook executives have also publicly condemned the platform as destructive to society.

Walmart and McDonald's may have negative effects on society, according to a new survey of 2,000 Americans, but Facebook beats them both.

Conducted by the research company Honest Data, the survey asked people to single out from a list of companies which ones they felt had the worst impacts on society. The companies included Marlboro, Walmart, Facebook, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.

Facebook fit that criteria for 27% of respondents, coming in second behind Marlboro, which 43% of people said had negative effects. McDonald's and Walmart came in at 21% and 18%, respectively, while 36% of people said "None of the above."

Tavis McGinn, founder of Honest Data, wrote on LinkedIn that the findings weren't entirely surprising, given how much negative press Facebook has received in recent months.

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