SWS survey: Majority of Filipinos believe ‘fake news’ is serious issue

MANILA, Philippines — Majority of Filipinos believe that the problem of fake news in media is serious, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed Friday.

According to the survey conducted from December 12 to 16, 2021, 69 percent of the respondents consider the problem of the spread of fake news in media such as television, radio and newspaper as serious.

Meanwhile, 21 percent said they are undecided, six percent it is somewhat not serious, while three percent said it is not serious at all.

“Compared to December 2017, those who consider the problem of fake news in media as serious rose by 9 points from 60%,” SWS said.

The survey further found that 67 percent of Filipinos believe that the problem of fake news in the internet such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube is serious, while 24 percent are undecided, five percent say it is somewhat not serious, while three percent said it is not serious at all.

The SWS survey also found that 51 percent said it is very or somewhat difficult to spot fake news on TV, radio, or social media.

“Those who consider the problem of fake news in media as serious are higher among those who say spotting fake news is very easy (82%) and somewhat easy (78%) than among those who say spotting fake news is somewhat difficult (62%) and very difficult (58%),” SWS noted.

The survey was conducted  using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults nationwide, with  sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages.