Fake news is a key driver for Canadians losing trust in media and Facebook is considered the worst offender of fake news distribution by two thirds of respondents. In a new global survey of internet users by CIGI-Ipsos, social media is found to be the leading source of user DIStrust on the internet. More Canadians now blame social media companies for their media distrust (89% in 2019 vs 81% in 2018). More than half of Canadians (53%) think social media has impacted their information access, but only 7% have closed their social media accounts as a result.
“This year’s survey of global attitudes not only underscores the fragility of the internet, but also netizens’ growing discomfort with social media and the power these corporations wield over their daily lives,” said Fen Osler Hampson, a distinguished fellow at CIGI and director of its Global Security & Politics program.
The CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey, now in its fifth year, is the world’s largest and most comprehensive survey of internet security and trust, involving more than 25,000 internet users in over two dozen countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
For more information and full survey results click here.
