Fake News Perception in Germany: A Representative Study of People's Attitudes and Approaches to Counteract Disinformation

Fake news has become an important topic in our social and political environment. While research is coming up for the U.S. and European countries, many aspects remain uncovered as long as existing work only marginally investigates people’s attitudes towards fake news. In this work, we present the results of a representative study (N=1023) in Germany asking participants about their attitudes towards fake news and approaches to counteract disinformation. More than 80% of the participants agree that fake news poses a threat. 78% see fake news as harming democracy. Even though about half of the respondents (48%) have noticed fake news, most participants stated to have never liked, shared or commented on fake news. Regarding demographic factors, our findings support the view of younger and relatively educated people being more informed about fake news. Concerning ideological motives, the evaluation suggests left-wing or liberal respondents to be more critical of fake news.