Europeans differ greatly in their willingness to verify information seen or read on news websites and social media, Eurostat has found in recent results of a pan-EU survey. Lithuanians stood out as least interested in verifying such information.
Eurostat wrote in a press release last week, that according to its survey, in 2021, 47% of all people aged 16-74 years in the EU saw untrue or doubtful information on news websites or social media during the three months prior to the survey. However, only around a quarter (23%) of people verified the truthfulness of the information or content.
This information comes from data on ICT usage in households and by individuals published by Eurostat here.
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The share of people aged 16-74 years old, who verified information found on online news sites or social media in the previous 3 months, was largest in the Netherlands (45%), followed by Luxembourg (41%) and Ireland (39%). However, the smallest share was recorded in Lithuania (11%), followed by Romania (12%) and Poland (16%). Latvia was closer to the bottom end with 19%, while Estonia was above the EU average with 25%
In the EU, people aged 16-74 years old primarily checked if the information was truthful by checking the sources or finding other information on the internet (20%). People also checked information by discussing it with other persons offline, or using sources not on the internet (12%). The least popular method was checking by following or taking part in an internet discussion regarding the information (7%).
Eurostat: Lithuanians least willing to verify information read online
