Does Social Media Detect Fake News? Only 24% People Think So

The use of WhatsApp for news is starting to rival Facebook, including Malaysia (51%), Brazil (46%), & Spain (32%).

(Photo: iStock)

The Digital News Report 2017 was published by The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on Thursday.

The report explores how in the last 12 months there has been a fall in the confidence people have had in news across countries.

With data covering more than 30 countries and five continents, this research is a reminder that the digital revolution is full of contradictions and exceptions, the report reads.

Key Findings of Report

• Growth in social media for news is flattening out in some markets, as messaging apps that are more private and tend not to filter content algorithmically are becoming more popular.

The use of WhatsApp for news is starting to rival Facebook in a number of markets, including Malaysia (51%), Brazil (46%), and Spain (32%).

• Only a quarter (24%) of our respondents think social media does a good job in separating fact from fiction, compared to 40% for the news media.

• There are wide variations in trust across our 36 countries. The proportion that says they trust the news is highest in Finland (62%), but lowest in Greece and South Korea (23%).

• In most countries, we find a strong connection between distrust in the media and perceived political bias. This is particularly true in countries with high levels of political polarisation like the United States, Italy, and Hungary.

• Almost a third of our sample (29%) say they often or sometimes avoid the news. For many, this is because it can have a negative effect on mood. For others, it is because they can’t rely on news to be true.

• Mobile news notifications have grown significantly in the last year, especially in the US (+8 percentage points), South Korea (+7), and Australia (+4), becoming an important new route to content and giving a new lease of life to news apps.

• In a related development there has been a significant growth in mobile news aggregators, notably Apple News, but also Snapchat Discover for younger audiences. Both have doubled usage with their target groups in the last year.

• Smartphones are now as important for news inside the home as outside. More smartphone users now access news in bed (46%) than use the device when commuting to work.

• In terms of online news subscriptions, we have seen a very substantial ‘Trump bump’ in the US (from 9 to 16%) along with a tripling of news donations.

Most of those new payments have come from the young – a powerful corrective to the idea that young people are not prepared to pay for online media, let alone news.

• Ad-blocking growth has stalled on desktop (21%) and remains low on smartphones (7%). Over half say they have temporarily disabled their ad-blocker for news in countries like Poland (57%), Denmark (57%), and the United States (52%).

To read the full report click here.

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