About 40 per cent of German citizens surveyed claimed that they could not trust state media as they spread fake news, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation.
Germans expressed uncertainty about whether the information published on the Internet was generally truthful. Some shared the opinion that German politicians were among those spreading disinformation.
Almost one in three respondents stated that they had experienced what could be considered misinformation in the news at least once in the past few months. They believe that the government bears responsibility for misinformation in the German media.
However, German citizens see the spread of fake news as a common issue not only in Germany. More than 53 per cent of respondents also agree with the statement that false information is spread by foreign governments, too.
Those who do not trust news publications prefer to receive information from social media, such as Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram, whereas people with a high level of media trust are significantly less likely to use social media.
The survey was conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation with 5,000 participants at the end of February. It found that one in two respondents aged between 18 and 30 expressed no confidence in the German government, with distrust of the media hovering at 60 per cent.
