Misinformation on Social Media Platforms
Views of Taiwanese People on Diverse Political Opinions
- People tend to interpret information based on their deeply ingrained values and ideologies. The algorithms of social media platforms make it easier for individuals to filter out messages that differ from their own positions, leading to the echo chamber effect (Terren & Borge-Bravo, 2021). One way to break this echo chamber is by exposing oneself to messages with different perspectives. Survey results indicate that Taiwanese social media users are polarized on whether they need to encounter differing viewpoints, with about half of the population supporting each side.
Source: 2023 Taiwan Internet Report conducted May 2 – May 20, the survey is weighted to be representative of Taiwan population. Sample: 1574 (All the samples of dual-frame telephone survey, excluding those who don't use social media or haven't accessed the internet.)
Attention level to problematic messages
- To combat misinformation, social platforms like Facebook and Twitter have started marking problematic messages. Results show that the frequency at which social media users in Taiwan notice these warning labels is quite low. Approximately half (47.07%) of social media users stated they have never seen them, while about one-third (29.19%) said they only see them occasionally
Source: 2023 Taiwan Internet Report conducted May 2 – May 20, the survey is weighted to be representative of Taiwan population. Sample: 1574 (All the samples of dual-frame telephone survey, excluding those who don't use social media or haven't accessed the internet.)
Trustworthiness of social media information
- In Taiwan, approximately 69.55% of social media users believe that information on social media is not very trustworthy (i.e., those who chose "agree"), with only 23.79% indicating it is reliable.
Source: 2023 Taiwan Internet Report conducted May 2 – May 20, the survey is weighted to be representative of Taiwan population. Sample: 1574 (All the samples of dual-frame telephone survey, excluding those who don't use social media or haven't accessed the internet.)
Accuracy of Information on Social Media
- In Taiwan, approximately 78.86% of social media users disagree that "most information on social media is accurate." Only 16.48% agree, and 0.69% strongly agree
Source: 2023 Taiwan Internet Report conducted May 2 – May 20, the survey is weighted to be representative of Taiwan population. Sample: 1574 (All the samples of dual-frame telephone survey, excluding those who don't use social media or haven't accessed the internet.)
Public Views on Whether Major Internet Companies/Government Should Regulate Misinformation
- Prevention and control of misinformation requires participation and cooperation from multiple parties. The majority of the public believes that major internet companies like Google and Facebook have the responsibility to regulate misinformation, with 53.10% of respondents choosing 'Strongly Agree', and another 31.53% choosing 'Agree'. In addition, regarding whether the government should establish regulations against misinformation, 84.73% of respondents agreed, while only 9.03% disagreed.
Public Belief in Unverified Conspiracy Theories
- Based on the theory of risk communication, for the public to respond to a risk, they must first become aware of it. In the context of misinformation, if people can be more skeptical about the information on social media platforms, they are more likely to recognize the severity of misinformation and understand how to address it.
- This survey asked about two conspiracy theories circulating online that have not been substantiated: The first is "The COVID-19 virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China." The results showed that about half of the Taiwanese public tend to believe this conspiracy theory; on the other hand, nearly a third of the public disbelieve it. The second is "The COVID-19 virus is a man-made virus." The survey results indicated that approximately half of the Taiwanese public hold a belief in this narrative, while nearly one-third disbelieve it.
Source: 2023 Taiwan Internet Report conducted May 2 – May 20, the survey is weighted to be representative of Taiwan population. Sample: 2153 (All the samples of dual-frame telephone survey).
