| Characteristic | Total EMEA | Argentina | Australia | Brazil | India | Nigeria | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check whether the headline accurately reflects the rest of the story | 27% | 35% | 36% | 31% | 38% | 39% | 35% |
| Search online for key words to see if the story ranks among top searches | 22% | 23% | 20% | 36% | 40% | 28% | 19% |
| Read how other media organizations have reported the story | 43% | 38% | 44% | 49% | 45% | 52% | 42% |
| Go back to the original source of the information | 39% | 46% | 38% | 52% | 47% | 46% | 41% |
| Use a fact-checking website | 27% | 10% | 25% | 39% | 39% | 36% | 35% |
| Talk to friends or family to check whether they have heard of the story | 21% | 34% | 26% | 28% | 39% | 37% | 24% |
| Do some research on the media organization that has reported the story | 32% | 45% | 28% | 37% | 43% | 45% | 31% |
| Check the publication date | 29% | 43% | 29% | 39% | 35% | 33% | 28% |
| Read the comments | 27% | 39% | 29% | 34% | 38% | 39% | 22% |
| If on social media, check the profile of the person who shared the story | 16% | 29% | 17% | 30% | 37% | 30% | 17% |
| If on social media, check how many people have shared or liked the story | 7% | 12% | 8% | 13% | 29% | 17% | 8% |
| Other | 1% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| I would not do anything to verify the piece of information | 4% | 2% | 6% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 6% |
| Don't know | 7% | 4% | 7% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 7% |
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Source
Source
Release date
March 2021
More information
Region
Worldwide
Survey time period
January 6 to June 18, 2020*
Number of respondents
35,030 respondents
Age group
16-70 years
Method of interview
Online survey
Supplementary notes
Question: When you're unsure about whether a piece of news or information online is true or false, which of these, if any, are you most likely to do?
Survey dates for EMEA were January 6 to March 27, 2020. Dates for non-European countries were February 12 to June 18. 2020.
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