PRESS RELEASE

Public believe social media companies have responsibility to take down fake news 

• CIM warns Government proposals on fake news don’t go far enough
• Trust in social media content down by half in five years

85% of people agree that social media companies have a responsibility to remove fake news, according to new research published today by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

The vast majority (79%) of people also believe that social media companies should be monitoring for fake news on their platforms. Only four in ten (39%) believe government shares this responsibility, running counter to points raised by former Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg now of Facebook, earlier this week.

The results of a nationwide survey of over 2,000 adults is being published ahead of the close of the Government’s consultation on online harms on 1 July and will feature in CIM’s submission to the consultation.

The results point to the fact that the Government’s White Paper doesn’t address the presence of fake news on social media unless it is causing a specific harm. Our research uncovered a widespread expectation that social media companies are responsible for removing fake news from their platforms.

Chris Daly, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, said: “At CIM, we are concerned about the damage fake content has upon public trust. As marketers we spend £3.9bn on internet display advertising with the aim of bringing value to our customers.* Our professional members and the marketing industry as a whole needs confidence they are spending their marketing budgets wisely.

The public are unequivocal in their belief that it is the responsibility of social media companies to find and remove fake news from their platforms. Yet the Government’s proposals for regulating social media platforms will not require them to monitor and remove it. In other words, even after the introduction of regulation, fake news may continue unchecked.”

Fake news leading to declining trust in social media posts

Half of adults (51%) with a social media account say that they have seen something they would consider to be fake news in the past three months, with a third of people (31%) saying they had seen fake news in the past week.

This prevalence of fake news on social media is the likely cause of declining confidence in the accuracy of social media content. In a similar survey in 2014, the Chartered Institute of Marketing found that 62% indicated that they trusted content on social media (giving a score of 6 out of ten or more). By 2019, this had fallen to 34%, with only 1% saying that they are very confident (a score of nine or ten out of ten) that information on social media is accurate or genuine. 

Exemption for private messaging

The Government’s proposals also provide an exemption for private messaging. However, when asked as part of the survey most of the public believe that there should be some level of monitoring of private messages on platforms like WhatsApp.  

• Monitoring of messages made by people with a history of problematic behaviour online is backed by 41%
• While 31% believe private messages should be monitored for “buzz words”
• Only one in four (26%) said that they did not believe private messages should be monitored

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Notes to editors

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2032 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 31^st May - 4th June 2019.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

For media enquiries

For further information please contact the Chartered Institute of Marketing press office at Good Relations on CIMTeam@goodrelations.co.uk

 For CIM enquiries

James Delves
CIM Head of PR and External Engagement
james.delves@cim.co.uk

About CIM

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the world’s professional body for marketing. CIM’s mission is create marketing advantage for the benefit of professionals, business and society with a focus on export, data and skills. It believes marketing is the critical factor in driving long term organisational performance.

CIM provides members and organisations with five key benefits: 

• Partnership – CIM is a professional and organisational partner to support performance and career development
• Education – CIM allows individuals and businesses to continuously upskill
• Information – CIM keeps members up to date with the latest marketing thinking, and keeps organisations at the forefront of practices
• Connection – CIM provides access to services, expertise and peers
• Recognition – CIM is the global benchmark of professional competence

For more than 100 years, CIM has supported, represented and developed marketers, teams, and leaders across the profession. There are 130 CIM study centres in 36 countries and exam centres in 132 countries worldwide. In the last year, over 7,500 people registered at over 230 UK CIM events.

Find out more about CIM by visiting www.cim.co.uk.

Reference:

*The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Jan 2019