Confidence in ability to recognize fake news U.S.

According a survey held in December 2020, the share of people aged 16 years and above in the United States who were very confident in their ability to distinguish real news from false information amounted to 39.3 percent. A further 54 percent were somewhat confident that they were able to identify misinformation, whereas just 6.6 percent had little faith in themselves to determine facts from fake content.

Level of confidence in distinguishing between real news and fake news among adults in the United States as of December 2020

Characteristic	Share of respondents
Very confident	39.3%
Somewhat confident	54%
Not at all confident	6.6%

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Release date

2021

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

December 8, 2020

Number of respondents

1,000*

Age group

16 years and older

Method of interview

Online panel

Supplementary notes

*Respondents were aged 16 to over 54, with 35.7 percent of participants between the ages of 35 and 44 (35.7%). The gender split skewed female (53.6%).
Question: How confident are you in your ability to identify news online that is fake or misleading?

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