DIGITAL LIFE

“Fake news is as bad as climate change”...According to research by the US Pew Research Center

In a recent survey, 70% of citizens in 19 developed countries said they were concerned about the online distribution of fake news. The only thing more threatening than fake news was climate change.

The US Pew Research Center asked 23,525 citizens of developed countries to rate their threats to climate change, infectious diseases, online fake news, national cyberattacks and the state of the world economy. Most countries cited climate change as the biggest threat, with a response rate of 75%. However, after climate change, fake internet news came in second with a 70% response rate.

What is interesting is the American perception of the threat. Fake news and cyber attacks are the top threats for 70% of Americans surveyed. On the other hand, concerns about climate change were not so great, among the five threats, global warming registered the lowest response rate.

The New York Times attributed the findings to the fact that in recent years Americans have suffered more from fake news than other countries. A prime example is the last US presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 26% of Americans say fake news online is a threat they can ignore.

54% of Americans and 75% of Germans say climate change is the biggest threat. The country with the least awareness of climate change risk is Israel, with only 42% saying it is a serious threat.

Meanwhile, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, Americans' perceptions of fake news differed according to political party support. Democrats and more educated respondents said climate change was a threat, while Republican supporters and less educated respondents were less concerned about climate change. Sixty-six percent of Trump supporters said online fake news was a threat, and 78 percent of Biden supporters said it was.

Source: editor@itworld.co.kr