According to a survey held in May 2025, just under the half of all responding adults said they believed they saw false or misleading information online every day. Just two percent said they never saw false news, and almost a fifth saw it on a weekly basis.

A survey conducted in December 2020 assessing if news consumers in the United States had ever unknowingly shared fake news or information on social media found that 38.2 percent had done so. A similar share had not, whereas seven percent were unsure if they had accidentally disseminated misinformation on social networks.

Fake news in the U.S.

Fake news, or news that contains misinformation, has become a prevalent issue within the American media landscape. Fake news can be circulated online as news stories with deliberately misleading headings, or clickbait, but the rise of misinformation cannot be solely accredited to online social media. Forms of fake news are also found in print media, with 47 percent of Americans witnessing fake news in newspapers and magazines as of January 2019.

News consumers in the United States are aware of the spread of misinformation, with many Americans believing online news websites regularly report fake news stories. With such a high volume of online news websites publishing false information, it can be difficult to assess the credibility of a story. This can have damaging effects on society in that the public struggled to keep informed, creating a great deal of confusion about even basic facts and contributing to incivility.

Between 2018 and 2023, there was a 10.8 percent increase in usage of the claim that clean energy does not work from climate change denialists on YouTube. Overall, there was an 8.1 percent growth in statements suggesting that climate policies were harmful and a 7.8 percent increase in claims that the climate movement was unreliable. Additionally, there was a 4.3 percent change in claims spreading the idea that climate science was unreliable. Content suggesting the weather was too cold for global warming has seen significant decreases.

In a survey conducted in May 2025, journalism was rated the most positively by U.S. adults, with 54 percent describing it as very or somewhat favorable. Social media followed with 49 percent favorable, though a notable share of respondents also held negative views. The news media and the press were rated less positively, at 47 and 46 percent, respectively. Overall, the findings suggest stronger confidence in journalism compared to other media institutions.

In 2023, the most common climate change denialism claim on YouTube was that climate science and the climate movement were unreliable, accounting for 34.6 percent of such claims. In 2018, this claim accounted for 22.6 percent of climate change denialism on the platform. Additionally, in 2018, almost half of all climate change denialism reported that global heating was not happening. By 2023, this statement was used 13.8 percent of the time, meaning there had been a change of -34.3 percent in usage of this claim. Climate solutions and advocates are also targets of climate change denialism on YouTube.

The term ‘fake news’ is used in multiple different contexts, but officially refers simply to false information presented as legitimate news. Adults in the United States believe social media platforms and online news sites to be the most likely sources of fake news – 58 percent of respondents to a survey believed that Facebook was the most likely place in which they would encounter false news stories, and 49 percent said the same about Twitter.

A separate study revealed that 66 percent of U.S. adults believed that 76 percent or more of the news they saw on social media was biased. Social networks are generally not seen as credible or trustworthy news platforms – on a global level, social media was the least trusted source of general news and information.

Why does social media fuel or help to spread fake news?

Sadly, the main way in which fake news can be so quickly disseminated throughout not only one, but multiple social media platforms, is by users sharing such news with others (either knowingly or unknowingly). The ability to share content with friends and family is one of the key appeals of social networks, but the ease of doing so becomes somewhat sinister when it comes to the spread of false information.

Ten percent of U.S. adults admitted to knowingly sharing fake news or information online, 49 percent said that they shared such content and later found out it was inaccurate or made up, and 52 percent admitted to having done either of these things. This is a serious cause for concern. Sharing news in good faith and later discovering it was fake is one thing, but deliberately and knowingly passing such content on to others is another. Many social media users blame the networks themselves for the spread of fake news. Whilst social platforms do make attempts to regulate the content shared on their sites, the more users who actively take responsibility for the content they choose to share and hold themselves accountable, the greater the overall impact.

A July 2021 survey of online adults in the United States found that 34 percent of respondents felt that the user who originally posted the false information are most responsible for the spread of coronavirus misinformation on social media. Additionally, 27 percent of respondents stated that social media companies were most responsible.

According to a survey held in 2025, U.S. adults aged between 18 and 29 years old were the least confident in their ability to distinguish real news from false information, with 68 percent saying they felt very or somewhat confident. This figure rose to 72 percent among adults aged 30 to 44 and those aged 65 and older, while 75 percent of those aged 45 to 64 expressed confidence in this respect. One reason for this could be younger generations’ greater reliance on social networks, where misinformation tends to circulate more widely and can often be presented as genuine information by those who share it.

A 2025 survey found that over 50 percent of Republicans said they saw information they believed to be false or misleading every day, compared to just 37 percent of registered Democrat voters. Democrats and Independents were overall less likely to say they saw false information regularly.

A study held in early 2023 found that Indonesian adults were the most concerned about the spread of false information on social media, with over 80 percent saying that they were very or somewhat worried about the matter. Whilst Swedish and Danish respondents were less concerned about misinformation on social media, the global average among all countries was 68 percent, highlighting the growing awareness and worry about false information worldwide.

A 2024 study on news consumption among children in the United Kingdom found that ** percent of respondents aged 12 to 15 years old had come across deliberately untrue or misleading news online or on social media in the year before the survey was conducted. ** percent said they had not seen any false news.

The statistic presents results of a survey on whether social media sites are currently doing enough to stop the spread of fake news United States as of March 2018. During the survey, 69 percent of respondents stated that they believed social media sites were not doing enough to stop the spread of fake news.

During a 2025 survey, ** percent of respondents from Nigeria stated that they used social media as a source of news. In comparison, just ** percent of Japanese respondents said the same. Large portions of social media users around the world admit that they do not trust social platforms either as media sources or as a way to get news, and yet they continue to access such networks on a daily basis. Social media: trust and consumption Despite the majority of adults surveyed in each country reporting that they used social networks to keep up to date with news and current affairs, a 2018 study showed that social media is the least trusted news source in the world. Less than ** percent of adults in Europe considered social networks to be trustworthy in this respect, yet more than ** percent of adults in Portugal, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia said that they got their news on social media. What is clear is that we live in an era where social media is such an enormous part of daily life that consumers will still use it in spite of their doubts or reservations. Concerns about fake news and propaganda on social media have not stopped billions of users accessing their favorite networks on a daily basis. Most Millennials in the United States use social media for news every day, and younger consumers in European countries are much more likely to use social networks for national political news than their older peers. Like it or not, reading news on social is fast becoming the norm for younger generations, and this form of news consumption will likely increase further regardless of whether consumers fully trust their chosen network or not.

As of July 2021, 39 percent of U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported that social media companies were doing a poor job when it comes to handling misinformation about the coronavirus on social media platforms. In comparison, only 25 percent of U.S. adults in age groups 18-34 and 25-44 respectively reported that social media companies were doing a poor job.

As of July 2021, 42 percent of U.S. adult who identified as Republicans reported that social media companies were doing a poor job when it comes to handling misinformation about the coronavirus on social media platforms. In comparison, only 30 percent of U.S. adult identifying as Democrats reported that social media companies were doing a poor job.

In May 2025, a survey asked U.S. adults how they feel while consuming news. The results indicate that a majority feel informed, with 53 percent saying that news generally makes them feel this way. At the same time, 43 percent reported feeling angry, and 32 percent said they feel depressed when consuming news. In contrast, only 16 percent described feeling hopeful. These findings highlight that while staying informed is a major benefit of news consumption, negative emotional reactions—such as anger and depression—are also very common among Americans.

As of July 2021, 34 percent of adult men in the United States felt that users who originally posted the false information were most responsible for the spread of coronavirus misinformation on social media. Additionally, 33 percent of female survey respondents reported the same thing.

According to a study conducted in August 2023, Pinterest was the selected social media platform that handled climate change misinformation most successfully, being awarded 12 out of a possible 21 points for having policies that included specific climate change content moderation, having a clear definition of climate misinformation, and reporting such content to coordinated disinformation campaigns, amongst other things. Second ranking TikTok also releases reports on the enforcement of its misinformation policies.

A 2025 survey found that around one in four adults in the United States actively avoided news related to sports, followed by entertainment (18 percent) and lifestyle (17 percent). In contrast, health was the least avoided news topic, with just four percent of respondents saying they ignored it.

As of July 2021, 36 percent of White U.S. adults reported that the user who originally posted the false information was most responsible for the spread of coronavirus misinformation on social media. In comparison, only 24 percent of Black U.S. adults reported the same.