A study held in early 2024 found that more than a third of surveyed consumers in selected countries worldwide had witnessed false news about politics in the week running to the survey. Suspicious or false COVID-19 news was also a problem.
False news
False news is often at its most insidious when it distorts or misrepresents information about key topics, such as public health, global conflicts, and elections. With 2024 set to be a significant year of political change, with elections taking place worldwide, trustworthy and verifiable information will be crucial. In the U.S., trust in news sources for information about the 2024 presidential election is patchy. Republicans and Independents are notably less trusting of news about the topic than their Democrat-voting peers, with only around 40 percent expressing trust in most news sources in the survey. Social media fared the least well in this respect with just a third of surveyed adults saying that they had faith in such sites to deliver trustworthy updates on the 2024 election. A separate survey revealed that older adults were the least likely to trust the news media for election news. This is something that publishers can bear in mind when targeting audiences with updates and campaign information.
Distorting the truth: the impact of false news
Aside from reading (and potentially believing) false information, consumers are also at risk of accidentally sharing false news and therefore contributing to its spread. One way in which the dissemination of false news could be stemmed is by consumers educating themselves on how to identify suspicious content, however government intervention has also been tabled. Consumers are split on whether or not governments should take steps to restrict false news, partly due to concerns about the need to protect freedom of information.
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Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. (June 17, 2024). News consumers who saw false or misleading information about key topics in the last week worldwide as of February 2024 [Graph]. In ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. Retrieved July 15, 2026, from /statistics/1317019/false-information-topics-worldwide/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. "News consumers who saw false or misleading information about key topics in the last week worldwide as of February 2024." Chart. June 17, 2024. ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. Accessed July 15, 2026. /statistics/1317019/false-information-topics-worldwide/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. (2024). News consumers who saw false or misleading information about key topics in the last week worldwide as of February 2024. ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Inc.. Accessed: July 15, 2026. /statistics/1317019/false-information-topics-worldwide/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. "News Consumers Who Saw False or Misleading Information about Key Topics in The Last Week Worldwide as of February 2024." ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ, ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Inc., 17 Jun 2024, /statistics/1317019/false-information-topics-worldwide/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, News consumers who saw false or misleading information about key topics in the last week worldwide as of February 2024 ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ, /statistics/1317019/false-information-topics-worldwide/ (last visited July 15, 2026)
News consumers who saw false or misleading information about key topics in the last week worldwide as of February 2024 [Graph], Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, June 17, 2024. [Online]. Available: /statistics/1317019/false-information-topics-worldwide/
