WASHINGTON, D.C. — After climbing to a new high in 2025, Americans’ support for businesses speaking out on current events declined in 2026. Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults now say businesses should take a public stance on current events, down from 51% in 2025 and roughly in line with where sentiment stood when the study began in 2022 (48%). A slim majority, 53%, say businesses should not take a public stance.
Since 2022, support has fluctuated considerably. In 2023 and 2024, the public leaned more decisively against corporate stances before support rebounded in 2025.
These findings, from the 2026 Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Survey report, are based on a web survey with 3,270 U.S. adults, conducted May 4-11, 2026, using the probability-based Gallup Panel.
Democrats and Youth More Supportive of Public Stances
Support for corporate stances varies by demographics. Sixty-two percent of Democrats say businesses should speak out, compared with 45% of independents and 28% of Republicans. Younger adults are similarly more supportive than their elders: 60% of adults aged 18 to 29 favor corporate stances, versus 38% of those aged 60 and older. Women (51%) are more supportive than men (41%).
Although support skews Democratic, Democrats registered the largest decline of any partisan group between 2025 and 2026, down nine percentage points. Support declined among most other demographic groups as well, but generally by smaller margins.
Five Issues Still Command Majority Support
When asked whether businesses should speak out on specific topics, majorities of Americans continue to want businesses to take stands on the same five issues that topped the list in 2025: free speech (58%), climate change (58%), diversity, equity and inclusion (57%), mental health (56%), and healthcare (54%). At the other end of the spectrum, abortion (22%) and religion (16%) remain the least-supported topics for corporate stances, consistent with results from prior survey administrations.
Support for speaking out declined modestly on several politically contentious issues in 2026, including abortion (down four points) and racial and LGBTQ+ issues (each down three points), with almost all of those declines occurring among Democrats. Even so, support for each issue remains above its 2024 level, representing a partial pullback rather than a reversal of 2025’s broad gains.
Employees Have Less Appetite to Hear From Own Employer
Americans’ limited interest in corporate activism is even more pronounced when their employer is the messenger. For the second consecutive year, a majority of employees (56%) say their own employer should not communicate a stance to them on current events. Forty-four percent say they should. Still, employees are slightly more open than they were a year ago, when 60% preferred employer silence.
When asked which issues they would like their employer to speak up on, majorities of employees are supportive of four: mental health (62%), healthcare issues (56%), diversity, equity and inclusion (56%), and free speech (52%).
Bottom Line
Americans’ appetite for corporate voices in public debates cooled in 2026 after peaking a year earlier. Less than half now say businesses should take public stances on current events. However, the divide masks sharp partisan and generational differences, and majorities still want to hear from businesses on a core set of issues, led by free speech and climate change.
For leaders, the findings also underscore the importance of considering the audience as well as the issue. Most employees prefer that their own employer stay silent on public issues, except on the handful of topics squarely within the employer’s sphere of influence.
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