Violence in democracies: The role of fake news, disinformation and social media
This Ipsos analysis for Les Entretiens de New York reveals a small minority in the US and France considers violence a viable means to achieve political goals. Support for democracy remains strong overall – but scepticism towards politicians, the continued spread of fake news and “filter bubbles”, as well as a certain distrust of facts and science, all help to weaken support for the way our democratic systems operate today.
In this Ipsos analysis for Les Entretiens de New York, we show how violence, although opposed by most US and French citizens, is still seen by a not-insignificant minority in both countries as a legitimate course of action to achieve political objectives. A quarter of French people consider politically motivated violence acceptable under some circumstances, while 15% of Americans refuse to condemn it.
Attitudes towards democracy and "broken-system" sentiment
Support for democracy as a political system remains strong in both countries – but over a quarter of people say they are open to experimenting other political regimes or ready to side-line some key democratic principles. There is a desire for more direct democracy, and heavy criticism and suspicion vis-à-vis politicians.
A positive note is that, while the feeling that “the system is broken” remains strong in many of the world’s largest countries, including the US and France, this sentiment has receded in all the places where major elections have recently taken place. Evidence that democracy works?
Do fake news and disinformation, amplified by social media, play a role in feeding this neo-violent climate?
Our polls show that, for large sections of the population, fake news are often difficult to untangle from facts. There is also a surprising degree of scepticism vis-à-vis science: for 50% of French people, the fact that a scientist specialising in a given area demonstrates a fact does not mean this fact is correct. 40% say they trust their own personal experience more than explanations from scientists to decide whether a fact is scientifically correct or not.
This impacts the political sphere. Before the last midterm elections, over 60% of Americans were worried people’s voting decisions might be based on fake news.
“Filter bubbles” are a reality. All the more so as most people consider they are “other people’s problem” and they themselves are not affected. Two-thirds of the population in 27 major countries think “other people” live in a bubble on the internet, mostly looking for opinions they already agree with. But only one-third admits to living in their own bubble online. 60% think “other people don’t care about facts anymore, they just believe what they want”.
Notes
Sources used in this report :
- Fractures françaises : Vague 10 - Ipsos/Sopra Steria pour Le Monde, la Fondation Jean Jaurès et le Cevipof (France, October 2022)
- Baromètre “Science et société” - Institut Sapiens & Ipsos (France, October 2022)
- The Trust Gap: How and Why News on Digital Platforms Is Viewed More Sceptically Versus News in General - Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Ipsos (2022)
- Knight Foundation/Ipsos Poll - Freedom of Speech Using Ipsos’s Knowledge Panel ® (US, October 2022)
- Ipsos Global Advisor - “Broken-System Index” (October 2022)
- Axios/Ipsos Two Americas Index (US, September 2022)
- Reuters/Ipsos Poll - Political Violence (US, August 2022)
- Ipsos Poll - Misinformation and Conspiracy Theory Poll (US, January 2022)
- Ipsos Poll - Technology and Society - Conducted on Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel ® (US, October 2021)
- Ipsos Global Advisor Poll - Fake news, filter bubbles, post-truth and trust (27 countries, 2018) Levada Centre, President Putin’s Approval Rating (2023)
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