Vast Majority of Us Duped By Fake News At Least Once
Global Survey Says Social Media Bears The Brunt of Blame
An international survey shows the majority of us have fallen for fake news on a global scale.
For the fifth year running, CIGI-Ipsos has conducted its global internet security and trust survey, involving over 25,000 users in over two dozen countries. The results show not can fake news be deceiving, social media is getting much of the blame for it.
A whopping 86 per cent of respondents say they’ve fallen for fake news at least once. About 44% claim they sometimes or frequently did, while only 14% claim they have never been duped by fake news. Regardless of whether they fell for it or not, respondents said Facebook was the most commonly cited source of fake news. About 77% of users say they’d seen fake news there, while 62% of users cited Twitter.
Of those who participated in the survey, three-quarters claim social media companies are responsible for their distrust in the Internet. Cybercriminals represent the biggest reason people distrust the online world however, with 81% of respondents pointing the finger there.
As a result of this lack of trust, just less than half of respondents are disclosing less personal information online. Only a small percentage of respondents reported actually taking greater steps to protect their privacy, through sophisticated tools like enhanced encryption, Tor, or VPNs, at 19% of respondents.
