Fake news shakes trust in social media

THE rise of ‘fake news’ has damaged trust in social media, a study has found.

People are increasingly worried that the stories they read on sites such as Facebook and Twitter are untrue. And nearly half of people polled in the UK, US and France believed deliberately-planted untrue ‘news’ stories have influenced recent elections.

Six out of ten now have less faith in social media than they did before the votes in their countries, the poll of ,000 people by research giant Kantar found.

Two thirds of people also fear that complex computer codes used by social media sites ‘select’ which stories to show them so they only see articles that confirm their existing views instead of a range of opinions.

Many are changing the way they approach news as a result, Kantar found, with four out of ten actively searching for different opinions to their own online, or checking more news sources than they would have done a year ago. Kantar’s ‘Fake News’ report said: ‘Social media and messaging platforms have sustained significant reputational damage as a source of trusted news.’