More than half of French Internet users faced with a fake news in 2021
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According to INSEE, which examines French people’s use of the Internet each year, 82% of them seek to protect their data.
Internet users residing in France were questioned for the first time by INSEE on their relationship to fake news. The infox or thefake newsmeans misleading information disseminated online on news sites or social media. “The question we asked was: have you seen any information or content (e.g. videos or images) that you consider to be false or unreliable, in the past three months?“says Julie Solar, head of the living conditions division at INSEE, about the study published Thursday, July 21 by the institute. ” The study was conducted in the form of an online questionnaire, with answers of the type ”yes” or ”no”, we had 15,000 respondents“, she specifies.
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The result is edifying: In 2021, 51% of Internet users residing in France (excluding Mayotte) say they have seen at least one piece of information that they consider to be false or unreliable in the last three months, on news sites or social media“says the researcher. “This significant number is explained by the very functioning of the flow of information within social networks», explains Stéphanie Lukasik, doctor in Information and Communication Sciences.“ From now on, information is no longer only disseminated by traditional channels but above all by users among themselves. This makes the task of moderating fake news much more complex “, she explains. Indeed, the people most exposed to fake news are those who “openly express political or media opinions“says Julie Solar.
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“ To fight against this disinformation, it is necessary that the State or the European Union help citizens to realize that this fight will not be done without them. This requires information education and socio-digital networks from an early age.“, insists Dr. Stéphanie Lukasik, for whom the information must be considered at its fair value: “ It is the lung of democracy, a misinformed society is a society that cannot decide and make choices in full consciousness“.
Data not sufficiently protected in the elderly
In addition, 82% of users seek to protect their data on the Internet, notes INSEE. Here again, this is the first time that the Institute has asked a question relating to data protection: “ We did not expect such a mass of people so concerned», is surprised Julie Solar. Almost 60% of respondents restrict access to their geographical position and refuse the use of their personal data for advertising purposes. These uses can be explained, among other things, by the relationship that the under-thirty generation has with the Internet, reports Stéphanie Lukasik: “ They evolve at the same time as social digital networks and therefore become acculturated to them along the way.»
On the other hand, “thehe elderly, the most disadvantaged and those with low digital skills protect their data less than others“, warns INSEE. The first initiatives have been launched to make Internet use easier for users of each generation and social category. In June 2021, the European Commission has proposed the creation of a “digital identity” whose aim is to facilitate mobility and access to services for citizens residing in the EU. But the project provokes debates on the consequences of this greater transparency around user data. For Stéphanie Lukasik, this proposal does not contradict Internet users’ quest to protect their data, quite the contrary: “sustainable and effective protection can only be achieved with transparency and accountability. It is necessary to regulate while empowering users“, she concludes.
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