Maldita.es and Oxfam Intermón commissioned the communications company Atrevia, with the support of the European Union’s Right, Equality and Citizenship program, to conduct a nationwide survey to understand patterns of information and disinformation consumption and their relationship with hate speech against the migrant population in Spain.
These are the 10 main findings of the first part of the survey:
1. WhatsApp surpasses online media in frequency of use as a source of information.
Television remains the most frequently used source of information among the Spanish population (43.1% use it every day), followed by WhatsApp, which almost 40% use daily as a source of information, ahead of other alternatives such as online press (25.2%) or radio (25.3%), which rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
2. 54% of the population says there is so much disinformation that they no longer believe anything.
Disinformation has a negative effect on citizens’ daily lives, contaminating the way we relate to one another. Hoaxes and fake news affect our willingness to communicate and listen. 67% of respondents are concerned about the impact that disinformation has on real life.
3. Half of Spaniards choose to live isolated from narratives and opinions contrary to their own.
20.4% of the population say they never consult news from media outlets, organizations or people with opinions different from their own, and 29.7% do so less than once a week. Citizens who combine traditional media and social networks are the ones who most frequently access information from media and people with differing views.
4. The majority of the population does not believe they change their opinion on political and social issues
5. Spaniards verify less frequently the news that supports their opinions and values.
The level of affinity with the source determines behavior toward information: the greater the affinity, the more interested we are, the more we share, and the less we verify.
6. 83% of the population considers that disinformation mainly comes from anonymous profiles online.
They also believe that political parties are spreaders and generators of hoaxes (76%). To a significant, though lower, extent, the creation of hoaxes is attributed to influencers, companies (47.5%) and traditional media (43%).
7. 85% of respondents believe that there is a deliberate intention to manipulate them through social networks and only 8% feel represented by the polarized opinions on social media.
8. 74% of the population believes that technological platforms prioritize their own interests over those of their users.
9. 41% of the population believes that freedom of expression should be above all else; however, 70% believe that social networks should be more regulated by the State.
10. Citizens believe that they need help from institutions and communication professionals to fight disinformation.
If you want to consult the full first part of this study, go to this link.
If you want to know how this survey was conducted, you can read the methodological note at this link.
