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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsTechnologicalFree SpeechDigital PrivacyInternet RegulationData protectionRight to be forgotten•••Started 4mos agoActive 3 days ago

Should the government grant citizens the legal right to force search engines to delete their past personal information?

The 'Right to be Forgotten' is a legal concept that allows individuals to request the removal of negative or outdated personal information from internet search results and directories. Popularized by the European Union's GDPR, this policy aims to give people a fresh start by preventing decades-old minor infractions or embarrassing posts from permanently defining their digital footprint. Implementing such a law in the United States faces unique hurdles due to strong constitutional protections for free speech and public records. Proponents argue that citizens deserve control…  

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 1.8k America voters.

64%
Yes
36%
No
57%
Yes
29%
No
3%
Yes, but only for private citizens; public figures and politicians must remain exempt to ensure democratic accountability
3%
No, this creates a slippery slope of digital censorship where the wealthy can scrub public records to rewrite history
3%
Yes, we need a legal mechanism to claw back our digital sovereignty from data brokers who profit off our private lives
2%
No, forcing tech companies to delete publicly available factual information violates the First Amendment
2%
Yes, the EU already proved this works to protect citizens from permanent reputational damage over minor past mistakes
1%
No, the internet is decentralized and mandating a universal delete button is a technological impossibility that crushes startup innovation

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 1.8k America voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 1.8k America voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @BF3CWY9 from Mississippi  answered…1wk1W

No, But if you continuing allowing the Hacking. Piracy because more legal. We can choice to make sure you never get our personal information again, Corporations & Social Media.

 @BCZRZQV from Indiana  answered…2mos2MO

no stance on this

 @BCZFLDR from Indiana  answered…2mos2MO

Depends on how it is done

 @BCXHMLQ from Florida  answered…2mos2MO

No, because what if the government needs to access this in case of a murder or something. But the companies shouldn't have access only to the government.

 @8XLR4JX  from North Carolina  answered…2mos2MO

Yes but only for private citizens up to a certain income threshold so the rich aren’t wiping their own digital trails; public figures and politicians however must remain exempt for democratic accountability reasons

 @BCS6752 from North Carolina  answered…2mos2MO

I would say that it depends really much on how the person sees the thing, but in my opinion I think that there is a need to have a right like that, but it depends on how I say it because it can hide parts of the history and parts of some kind of hidden information

 @BCS4BSG from Pennsylvania  answered…2mos2MO

they should be allowed to deletle their past information as long as its not major criminal records, restranting orders and problamatic issues that the person idtenifies with

 @BCRD9FV from Oklahoma  answered…3mos3MO

Again, it should be up to the platform/company to make that decision.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

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Based on 1.8k responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should the government grant citizens the legal right to force search engines to delete their past personal information?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 26, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/polls/5558446120

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