Social media users more likely to believe misinformation

Published February 23, 2021
The Pew Research Centre report found that people who used social platforms for news were less informed about major public affairs topics and more susceptible to believing rumors and hoaxes. — AFP/File
The Pew Research Centre report found that people who used social platforms for news were less informed about major public affairs topics and more susceptible to believing rumors and hoaxes. — AFP/File

WASHINGTON: Americans who rely on social media as their main source of news are more likely believe false or unproven stories about important topics such as politics and Covid-19, a survey showed on Monday.

The Pew Research Centre report found that people who used social platforms for news were less informed about major public affairs topics and more susceptible to believing rumors and hoaxes.

The report comes with social media platforms becoming a growing source of news amid struggles by traditional media in the digital age.

The Pew report found some 18 percent of respondents in the survey got most of their political and election news via social media.

But those people were less likely to correctly answer fact-based questions about politics and current events than those relying on print, broadcast or news apps.

Social media news consumers were more aware of specific false or unproven stories about the coronavirus and said they had seen more misinformation about the pandemic such as claims that Vitamin C could prevent infection, the survey found.

On political news, social media users were less informed about facts such as the function of the state-by-state Electoral College votes, which ultimately decide who wins the White House, or the unemployment rate.

The report comes from a series on interviews with some 9,000 US adults from November 2019 through December 2020.

A majority in the survey said they distrusted social media, with Facebook the least trusted among the platforms.

Among those using traditional media, the researchers also found that roughly a quarter Americans on the political left and right consistently turned to “partisan” news sites, reinforcing their views.

Pew found that roughly three in 10 Republicans relied on former president Donald Trump as a major source of news about the election and the coronavirus.

These Republicans were more likely to think the Covid-19 pandemic had been overblown and more likely to see voter fraud as a significant threat to election integrity.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Anti-women state
Updated 25 Nov, 2024

Anti-women state

GLOBALLY, women are tormented by the worst tools of exploitation: rape, sexual abuse, GBV, IPV, and more are among...
IT sector concerns
25 Nov, 2024

IT sector concerns

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ambitious plan to increase Pakistan’s IT exports from $3.2bn to $25bn in the ...
Israel’s war crimes
25 Nov, 2024

Israel’s war crimes

WHILE some powerful states are shielding Israel from censure, the court of global opinion is quite clear: there is...
Short-changed?
Updated 24 Nov, 2024

Short-changed?

As nations continue to argue, the international community must recognise that climate finance is not merely about numbers.
Overblown ‘threat’
24 Nov, 2024

Overblown ‘threat’

ON the eve of the PTI’s ‘do or die’ protest in the federal capital, there seemed to be little evidence of the...
Exclusive politics
24 Nov, 2024

Exclusive politics

THERE has been a gradual erasure of the voices of most marginalised groups from Pakistan’s mainstream political...