More bad news about fake news: A new survey from Morning Consult finds more than 70% of Americans have heard
about the “fake news” controversy, and nearly half (49%) say they have been exposed to fake news at least once a day through Facebook and Twitter.
In addition, 69% of those polled
said they have started to read a news story only to realize later that it wasn’t real.
On the question of whether Facebook, Twitter, and Google should be able to censor fake news, a
majority of Americans say they are comfortable with tech companies censoring fake news — 71% said it was appropriate for Google, Facebook and Twitter to remove fake news, and 67% said it was
appropriate for Web service providers to remove it.
With regard to who is most responsible for policing fake news, Americans think they and social media sites are most responsible for policing
fake news, but believe all actors must play a role. For example, 24% of Americans said "the person reading the news" is the most responsible for ensuring they are not exposed, followed by Facebook and
Twitter at 17%. The government comes in third with 14% of the vote, followed by Web services providers at 10%, and search engines (such as Google) at 9%.
Notably, Democrats are more likely
than Republicans to say that social media sites are more responsible for ensuring that people are not exposed to fake news (21% versus 17%). And Republicans are more likely to say "the person reading
the news" is more responsible (25% versus 20%).
Interestingly, credibility among news outlets varies. For example, CNN led cable news channels, with 60% saying it's a credible news source. ABC
was the highest-ranked broadcast channel, chosen by 67% of respondents as a credible source. In addition, 64% percent viewed The Wall Street Journal as credible, while 63% viewed the
New York Times as credible. And 18% of respondents said The Onion is credible, while 19% said the same of Breitbart News.