German concerns about disinformation and its impact on society is growing. Over the past two years, the proportion of those who have “strong” or “very strong” fears in this regard has increased by eight percentage points, reaching 64%. These are the findings of a study by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation entitled “What news can you still believe?”, released on Saturday, March 18.
Only topics such as climate change and tensions between Europe and Russia, judging by the results of this study, worry the population of Germany even more.
Meanwhile, concerns about disinformation is being tested in Germany people from all social strata. At the same time, most of the respondents are worried about conspiracy theories or the targeted dissemination of misinformation. Other respondents who are afraid “fakes”believe that they can be distributed by well-known media on the instructions of those who control them.
Who trusts the social media in Germany
The proportion of Germans who trust information on political topics in the public legal media has fallen over the past three years, according to a study, from 78 to 70%. At the same time, the difference in opinions of respondents in the west and east of Germany attracts attention. If the proportion of Western Germans who trust the public legal media is 73%, then among the inhabitants of the eastern federal lands this is only 58%.
Differences in attitudes towards public legal media are also visible among supporters of different political parties. Thus, the majority of those who trust such media are among the “green” voters (96%). Next come the supporters of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) / Christian Social Union (CSU) – 81% and 78% respectively. Among those who sympathize with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), 65% trust public-law media, but among right-wing populist adherents from “Alternatives for Germany” (AfD) – only 16%.
The basis of the study “What news can you still believe?” Two surveys were formed: the Infratest dimap public opinion research institute, in which 4247 people took part, and the USUMA market and public opinion research institute with the participation of 5511 respondents.
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