July 29 (UPI) -- The number of Americans who believe tech companies have a positive impact on the country has dropped by 21 percent over the past four years, a Pew Research poll released Monday indicates.
The survey found that 50 percent of Americans believe tech companies have a positive impact on the United States, down from 71 percent in 2015 in the wake of major scandals such as Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data breach.
Additionally, negative views of tech companies nearly doubled from 17 percent in 2015 to 33 percent this year, while 18 percent of people said tech companies' impacts had been neither positive nor negative, or offered no opinion, in the most recent poll.
Republicans' support of tech companies dropped most dramatically, falling from 72 percent in 2015 to 44 percent in the most recent poll, while 54 percent of Democrats said they believe tech companies have a positive impact compared to 74 percent in 2015.
Previous Pew surveys found that 55 percent of Americans believe tech companies have too much power and influence, and 72 percent believe it is likely that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints.
The survey also charted the perception of the impacts of six other U.S. institutions, including colleges and universities, churches and religious organizations, labor unions, banks and other financial institutions, large corporations, and the national news media.
