The Canadian Press reports that a recent global survey has revealed that 90% of respondents have reported being fooled by a false news report at least once, with Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets being the prime culprits.
Amid demands for additional measures be taken by social media companies to address deliberately misleading information spread on their platforms, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale discussed the issue in a June 10th meeting with his American counterpart, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan. Goodale was quoted as saying that both countries needed to develop technology to take down and prevent offensive material.
Other results of the survey included:
- 10% of Twitter users and 9% of Facebook users reported they had closed their accounts as a direct result of fake news
- One in four indicated they didn’t trust the internet to provide them with accurate news
- Varying explanations for the distrust were provided, including cybercriminals (81% of respondents), social media platforms (75% of respondents), foreign governments (66% of respondents), governments generally (66% of respondents) and search engines themselves (65% of respondents)
