Almost half of people aged 16-74 years in the European Union (EU) saw untrue or doubtful information on news websites or social media in 2021, but only around a quarter (23%) verified the truthfulness of the information or content, Eurostat said in a recent report. 

In Romania, only 12% of those between 16 and 74 years of age checked the information read on news sites or social networks this year. This is the second-lowest share in the EU, after Lithuania - 11%, Biziday.ro reported.

At the other end, the largest shares were registered in the Netherlands (45%), followed by Luxembourg (41%) and Ireland (39%).

“In the EU, people aged 16-74 years old primarily checked if the information was truthful by checking the sources or finding other information on the internet (20%). People also checked information by discussing it with other persons offline, or using sources not on the internet (12%). The least popular method was checking by following or taking part in an internet discussion regarding the information (7%),” reads the Eurostat press release.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Andrey Popov/Dreamstime.com)