Majority support anti-fake news centre plan: Poll

Majority support anti-fake news centre plan: Poll

Most people support the plan to set up an anti-fake news centre, but worry it could be abused for political purposes, says Nida Poll.
Most people support the plan to set up an anti-fake news centre, but worry it could be abused for political purposes, says Nida Poll.

A majority of people support the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society's plan to set up an anti-fake news centre to deal with ill-intentioned or misleading information, according to the result of a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.

The poll was conducted on Aug 14-16 on 1,522 people aged 15 and over of various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to compile their opinions on the anti-fake news centre plan.

A majority - 72.86% - of the respondents are users of online media such as websites, e-mails, LINE, Facebook and IG, while the rest - 27.14% - are not.

Asked whether they have ever believed fake news reports, 61.23% of the online media users said they never believed them; 27.59% said they had done so; and 11.18% said they were not sure whether which were fake and which not.

Of those who said they had believed fake news reports or were not sure if they were fake, when asked what they did with such reports, 52.09% said they never shared any online reports; 24.42% said they did not share fake news reports; 19.07% said they did not share reports they weren't sure were true; 9.77% said they shared them despite knowing that they were fake; 6.28% said they shared them although they were not sure if they were fake; 0.70% said they have made up fake news themselves and shared it; 0.47% said they tried to make corrections when they knew the information they shared was fake; and 0.23% said they analysed the news to see whether it was true or false.

Asked to comment on the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society's plan to set up an anti-fake news centre, 86.98% agreed with it; 8.14% disagreed; and, 4.88% were uncertain or had no comment.

Lastly, asked whether they are worried that the planned anti-fake news centre could infringe on individual rights or could be used as a political tool, 28.84% said they are not worried at all; 28.14% slightly worried; 27.91% rather worried; 10.00% very worried; and 5.11% were uncertain or had no comment.

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