51% find it ‘difficult’ to spot fake news — SWS

MANILA, Philippines — One in every two Filipinos find it difficult to spot false information on traditional and social media, a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The December 2021 poll showed that 38 percent of the respondents found it “somewhat difficult” to spot fake news, while another 13 percent said it was “very difficult.”

Thirty-seven percent of the respondents said it was “somewhat easy” to spot fake news, while another 11 percent said it was “very easy.”

SWS president Linda Luz Guerrero announced the results during the 2022 SWS Survey Review virtual forum on Monday.

According to Guerrero, 20 percent of the respondents said they “often” spot fake news on traditional and social media. Some 40 percent said “sometimes,” 35 percent “seldom” and four percent “never.”

The survey also found that a majority of the respondents believe the problem of fake news is as serious in traditional media as in the internet.

Seventy-percent said the spread of fake news on television, radio and newspapers is a serious problem (32 percent very serious, 38 percent somewhat serious), up from 60 percent obtained in a similar survey in December 2017 (29 percent very serious, 31 percent serious).

Some 21 percent were undecided (down from 27 percent), while only nine percent said it was somewhat not serious or not serious at all (down from 13 percent).

Those who believe that the spread of fake news online is serious also increased from 58 percent in December 2017 (32 percent very serious, 26 percent somewhat serious) to 67 percent in December 2021 (32 percent very serious, 35 percent somewhat serious).

Twenty-four percent of the latest survey’s respondents were undecided (down from 33 percent), while eight percent said the spread of fake news online was somewhat not serious or not serious at all (same as in 2017).