Written evidence submitted by Ofcom
Ofcom welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sub-committee on Online Harms and Disinformation inquiry into misinformation and trusted voices. This note provides an overview of Ofcom’s approach to conducting research and our answers to several questions posed by the Committee which are relevant to our remit and expertise. These include:
As the Committee will be aware, the Online Safety Bill is currently progressing through Parliament. The Bill complements Ofcom’s existing approach to misinformation online under its media literacy duty and will help to shed a light on the systems and processes service providers are putting in place to counter harmful dis/misinformation.
Overview
Ofcom is an evidence-based regulator and many of our decisions are informed by research. As such we undertake and conduct a variety of research programmes relevant to our remit, from ad-hoc initiatives focused on emerging trends in communications to annual tracker surveys that provide us with crucial insight into people’s behaviour and attitudes concerning communications devices and services. Our research forms the bedrock of how we approach our regulatory duties and is instrumental to how we engage with our stakeholders.
In addition, we also produce several annual publications including our Online Nation report (that looks at what people are doing online, and how they are served by online content providers), our Connected Nations report (which assesses the availability of broadband and mobile services in the UK), and our media literacy reports. Being transparent with our stakeholders on our regulatory approach and research activities is at the heart of how we operate and all these reports are published on our website.
In addition, under our statutory duty to promote media literacy as set out in the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom undertakes a wide range of activities, from world-class research into the media habits of UK adults and children, to working with stakeholders to make their media literacy interventions more effective. As people increasingly access news on matters of national debate online, our research on user safety, media literacy and critical thinking skills has never been more important.
Which organisations are the most trusted sources of information in the UK?
In our annual News Consumption Survey, Ofcom examines the consumption of news content across different platforms. This report also examines users’ attitudes to that content, across different audience groups. This includes sources and platforms used, the perceived importance of different outlets for news, and attitudes towards individual news sources, including international and local news. This survey aims to inform our understanding and approach to the regulation of news outlets and platforms across the UK and within each UK nation.
According to our 2022 report, “traditional” news outlets such as TV, print newspapers and radio remain the most trusted source of news for regular users. Those considered most trustworthy mainstream services include BBC TV, ITV, BBC Radio and Sky News Channel. In comparison, our research found that trust is slightly lower for online non-social news sources (for example online versions of newspapers as well as other websites like Google news). Trust was also much lower for social media sources which only 35% of regular users viewed as trustworthy.
Our research indicates that while online news outlets are being used as a key source of information, “traditional” news sources are still considered more credible and trustworthy. Nevertheless, while social media platforms score relatively poorly on attributes such as “trust”, many perform better than “traditional” news outlets in terms of “offering a range of opinions and perspectives”.
Finally, it is important to note that there are considerable differences in consumption habits by audience group, particularly age. Younger people are significantly more likely to use online and social media for news, and considerably less likely to use TV, than older people.
Where do you seek authoritative information to make up your mind about matters of national debate (such as vaccines and climate change)?
In our News Consumption Survey, we asked regular users of news sources whether they feel it helps them make up their minds. Our survey found that BBC Radio is regarded by 65% of regular listeners as helping them “make up their mind” on matters of national debate, with the equivalent figure for BBC TV being 61% of its regular viewers. Seven in ten regular viewers of Sky News Channel said it helped them “make up their mind”: the same proportion as readers of The Times/Sunday Times. Among Guardian/Observer readers, the figure was 73%. Interestingly we found that regular users of social media for news were less likely to say that these sites helped them make up their minds compared to many TV and press sources of news.
We undertook a similar study during the Covid-19 pandemic in which we asked users which news sources they used as their primary source of information about the crisis. We found that information from NHS and official Government sources were considered the most trustworthy and informative. Nevertheless, in line with the findings of our News Consumption Survey, broadcasters and print newspapers remained well-trusted sources of information throughout the pandemic. Finally, friends and family were trusted by 57% of those that used them as a source of information, while some social media platforms were considered an authoritative source by around one in five participants.
Is the provision of authoritative information responsive enough to meet the challenge of misinformation that is spread on social media?
The consumption of news and information is inherently cross-platform, from printed press, TV, and radio through to online and word of mouth. Our research shows us that misinformation is perceived to exist across the spectrum, and for some groups within society, this may include broadcast and print media, either local or with a wider footprint. Considering the complex nature of this issue and that misinformation is a cross-platform issue, it is essential that it is considered and tackled from a range of perspectives rather than through any silver bullet.
In response to the waves of false and misleading information during the Covid-19 pandemic Ofcom was able to quickly react and publish a series of resources on our website, showcasing good practice by the services and platforms in relation to misinformation. These resources were designed to be of use to industry as well as members of the public unsure about which information to trust. In addition, we published a literature review exploring which types of media literacy initiatives might be most useful in addressing and countering misinformation. We also carried out and published qualitative research among respondents who identified as sceptical or rejecting of “mainstream media”, to understand how they characterised misinformation and what kinds of intervention they thought would be useful.
While industry interventions are an effective starting point in addressing harmful misinformation, any approach to addressing online misinformation needs to be multifaceted and take into account the varying levels of public concern on the rise of fake news and misconceptions about what constitutes “misinformation” and “authoritative information”. Our recent research found that around one fifth of the UK online population were sceptical of news about covid from newspapers, radio and television outlets, despite these being flagged or promoted on social media services as “legitimate” or “reliable” news sources. In addressing the challenges posed by misinformation, services will need to consider the differences in public perception towards fake news and misinformation, and tailor their interventions to mitigate against this potential scepticism towards “authoritative information”.
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