Fifty-five percent of the respondents to a recent survey thought they were exposed to fake news and disinformation in the last months. They were answering the survey “Public mistrust: West vs. East. The rise of the nationalist trend in the era of disinformation and fake news phenomenon.”

Another 42.6% thought they were little or not at all exposed to fake news over the same period, while 2.5% did not know or did not answer.

Of those surveyed, 58.3% thought some countries support propaganda and disinformation activities in Romania to a large and very large extent, while 32.3% thought this happens to a small or very small extent, and 4.8% that it did not happen at all. 

According to 24% of the respondents, Russia is the main country supporting propaganda and disinformation actions and spreading fake news in Romania. The European Union ranks second, with 18.5% of the answers, followed by China (14.8%), Hungary (9.2%), the United States (9.2%), and Germany (3.3%). A total of 1.6% mentioned another country, and 19.4% did not know or did not answer.

Asked about the trust they place in various news sources, 36.6% said they were inclined to trust the information broadcast by TV stations, while 60.7% did not trust this source. A total of 21.8% of those surveyed trust the internet pages of the mass-media outlets, while 67.6% looked at them with mistrust.

Furthermore, 15.8% said they trusted information seen or received on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok), while 74.1% did not trust these sources. Another 40.6% trusted information delivered by radio stations, and 44.9% showed mistrust. 

The survey “Public mistrust: West vs. East. The rise of the nationalist trend in the era of disinformation and fake news phenomenon” was carried out by INSCOP Research in a partnership with Verifield at the request of the Strategic Thinking Group think-tank as part of a research project supported by the German Marshal Fund of the United States and funded by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation through True Story Project. It was carried out between March 1 and March 12 among 1,100 respondents who answered phone interviews. The error margin of the survey is +/-2.95%.

The first part of the survey revealed that 81% of the respondents think the country should choose the West, namely EU, US, and NATO, when it comes to political and military alliances.

The second part showed Germany was the country enjoying the highest level of trust among those answering the survey.

More on this chapter of the survey here.

(Photo: Jakub Jirsák | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com