Attitudes to online content fact checks by companies worldwide 2020

A report investigating media literacy and news consumption revealed that the majority of consumers in selected countries worldwide felt it would be appropriate for internet and technology companies to display fact checking next to advertising, news links, and user posts, although consumers in the EMEA region were the least convinced that this would be a positive measure, with just 27 percent deeming the suggestion to be extremely appropriate. Meanwhile, those in Brazil, India, and Nigeria felt more strongly about the subject and were less likely to be undecided. Almost 90 percent of respondents from Nigeria said that they believed providing fact checks next to online content would be an appropriate measure for companies to take.

Consumer opinions on internet and technology companies providing fact checks alongside online content in selected countries worldwide as of June 2020

Characteristic	Total EMEA	Argentina	Australia	Brazil	India	Nigeria	U.S.
Extremely appropriate	27%	36%	35%	50%	46%	59%	37%
Somewhat appropriate	40%	39%	41%	31%	35%	30%	37%
Neither appropriate or inappropriate	21%	16%	16%	11%	12%	7%	17%
Somewhat inappropriate	5%	5%	3%	4%	4%	3%	3%
Extremely inappropriate	2%	2%	1%	1%	2%	1%	2%
Don't know/not sure	5%	3%	3%	3%	2%	1%	4%

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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: To what extent do you believe it would be appropriate or inappropriate for an internet and technology company to do the following things? Display fact checking alongside advertising, news links, or user posts

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