Poll: 45% of Republicans Favor Shutting Down ‘Biased’ Media Outlets

Nearly half of surveyed Republican adults favor shutting down “biased” media outlets, a new The Economist/YouGov poll found. According to the data, published Wednesday, 45 percent of self-identified Republicans favor “permitting the courts to shut down news media outlets for publishing or broadcasting stories that are biased or inaccurate.” An additional 20 percent opposed such an idea, and 51 percent said they “haven’t heard enough to say.” Conversely, only 18 percent of Democrats favored the idea, with 39 percent opposing it. Overall, the poll found, only 28 percent of American adults favor using the courts to shut down “biased” media, with 29 percent opposing and 43 percent undecided.