Disinformation, hacking seen as top threats; World War III fear drops

In the latest edition of our annual Ipsos World Affairs polling for the Halifax Security Forum, we explore global attitudes towards conflicts and threats to the world.

Key findings include

• Disinformation worry high. Just over 3 in 4 (76% on average across 30 countries*) say the spread of disinformation to influence public opinion, new to the poll, is a real threat in the world today.
• Hacking concern remains. Being hacked for fraudulent or espionage purposes ties disinformation as the No. 1 threat in 2024 (76%). Hacking has consistently been seen as a leading threat over the past decade and fear about hacking rose in 19 out of 30 countries this year.
• Canada seen as having the most positive influence. 79% say Canada is the country/organization most likely to have a positive influence on world affairs over the next decade, once again topping our list. Meanwhile, Iran remains in the bottom spot, with 25% saying it will have a positive influence.
• Sweating natural disasters. Over the past decade, on average across 20 countries**, concern about one issue has grown the most: natural disasters. In 2015 58% of people saw it as a threat, with that rising to 69% in 2024.
• Fear for another World War falls. Worry about a global conflict involving superpowers similar to World Wars I and II over the next 25 years has dropped in 29 out of 30 countries year-over-year. As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears the three-year mark and with the Hamas-Israel conflict in its second year, 63% (down 7pp versus 2023) expect a worldwide conflict between now and 2074.
• Hope amid pessimism. The proportion of people who think more things are getting better than worse these days is down nine points, on average across 20 countries**, since we first started asking this question in 2017. On the other hand, a new question shows there’s some hope with a majority in all 30 countries saying democracy, human rights and the rule of law are universal values that all nations deserve and can aspire to.

*The “30*-country average” reflects the average result for all the countries and markets where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result.
**Change for 20-country average is based on the countries which were in all editions of the Ipsos for the Halifax Security Forum report.

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About the Study
Ipsos interviewed 22,989 adults online in 30 countries between September 20th and October 4th, 2024. Quotas were set to ensure representativeness and data have been weighted to the known population profile of each country. The sample consists of approximately 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Türkiye. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,000 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 200 were interviewed online.