Fake News Concerns Rise as Social Media Platforms Face Increased Scrutiny

A new study reveals that 35% of UK residents believe the government should implement stricter regulations on social media networks to combat the spread of false information. This finding comes amid growing concerns about the role of fake news in fueling populist movements worldwide.

According to research conducted by OC&C Strategy Consultants, significant generational and political divides exist in how people perceive and respond to fake news in both the UK and US. While concern spans the political spectrum, left and right-leaning individuals hold different assumptions about its origins and impacts.

In the United States, where the term “fake news” gained prominence during Donald Trump’s presidency, political affiliation strongly influences perspectives. Only 3% of right-leaning Americans doubt the existence of fake news, compared to 17% of those on the left. This disparity likely stems from Trump’s strategic use of the term to discredit critics, even as his own campaign faced accusations of spreading misinformation.

The UK presents a different picture. While the political right has largely adopted Trump’s rhetoric with just 3% denying the existence of fake news, the British left is only slightly more skeptical at 6%. This nuance reflects the UK’s distinct political landscape, where studies have documented media bias. Research from the Media Reform Coalition and Birkbeck University of London found that critics of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn received twice the broadcast airtime as his supporters.

Digital journalists now face unprecedented credibility challenges. Reuters Institute research shows that 23% of online news access occurs through social media platforms, compared to 32% via direct site visits and 25% through search engines. Yet only 24% of people believe platforms like Facebook and Twitter adequately separate fact from fiction.

When asked to assign blame for fake news, respondents in both countries pointed to Facebook and content creators. In the UK, Facebook topped the list of culprits, followed by users who generate false content. American respondents similarly identified content creators and Facebook among their top three factors, along with users who uncritically share misinformation.

Approaches to combating fake news vary between the two nations. In the UK, over a third of respondents favor government intervention through new regulations. Americans, however, are more hesitant about government involvement—perhaps unsurprisingly, as many respondents actually blamed the government itself for spreading misinformation. Instead, 22% of US respondents believe responsibility ultimately rests with individual users.

Despite these differences, respondents in both countries overwhelmingly agree that social media platforms should take greater responsibility for tackling fake news. Interestingly, very few respondents (just 7% in the UK and 13% in the US) believed traditional media outlets should be more transparent about their factual accuracy.

This highlights a potential blind spot in the fake news discussion. While social media platforms face intense scrutiny, traditional media outlets have their own troubled history with misinformation. The Murdoch-owned News of the World was implicated in covering up police culpability during the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster. In 2004, the Daily Mirror’s editor Piers Morgan resigned after the paper published falsified Iraq war photographs. The Daily Mail has developed such a reputation for inaccuracy that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales claimed they had “mastered the art” of fake news.

A 2017 study by KPMG found that internet news consumers tend to be more critical of information they encounter. While only 17% trusted social media as a news source, 46% expressed concerns about content accuracy on these platforms. By contrast, print newspapers enjoyed higher trust ratings despite well-documented ethical lapses, including the phone-hacking scandal that led to the Leveson Inquiry in 2011.

Experts warn that addressing fake news requires a comprehensive approach that examines all news sources, not just social media platforms. Since most people across generations in both countries access news directly from specific websites rather than through social media feeds, focusing exclusively on platforms like Facebook may prove insufficient to meaningfully tackle the broader fake news phenomenon.