Questioning Fact-Checking in the Fight Against Disinformation: An Audience Perspective

Figures & data

Table 1. Focus group composition.

Participant characteristics	Number of participants	% (n = 52)
Gender
Male	17	33%
Female	34	65%
Other	1	2%
Age
18–24	17	33%
25–34	11	21%
35–44	12	23%
45–54	5	10%
55 and above	7	13%
Political affiliation
Conservatives	13	25%
Labour	22	42%
Liberal democrats	7	13%
Greens	4	8%
None	4	8%
Other	2	4%
Education
Secondary school/GCSE	3	6%
College/A levels	20	38%
Undergraduate degree	15	29%
Graduate degree	12	23%
Doctorate	1	2%
Other qualification	1	2%
Main news source
Online news	22	42%
Social media	13	25%
Television news	11	21%
Newspapers	3	6%
Radio	3	6%

Table 2. Survey 1 respondent demographics.

Respondent demographics	Number of respondents	% (n = 1,065)
Gender
Male	387	36%
Female	671	63%
FTM trans	1	0%
Non-binary	4	0%
Prefer not to say	2	0%
Age
18–24	252	24%
25–34	345	32%
35–44	227	21%
45–54	118	11%
55–64	90	8%
65 and over	33	3%
Political affiliation
Conservative	218	20%
Labour	402	38%
Liberal Democrat	118	11%
None	112	11%
Other	19	2%
Don't know	65	6%
Plaid Cymru	1	0%
Reform UK (formerly Brexit Party)	5	0%
Scottish National Party (SNP)	28	3%
The Green Party	93	9%
United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)	4	0%
Education
Secondary School/GCSE	84	8%
College/A levels	320	30%
Undergraduate degree	324	30%
Postgraduate degree	266	25%
Doctorate	34	3%
Other qualification	38	3%
No formal qualifications	6	1%
Prefer not to say	3	0%
Main news source
Newspapers	39	4%
Online media	567	54%
Radio	33	3%
Social media	240	23%
Television	177	17%

Table 3. Survey 2 respondent demographics.

Respondent demographics	Number of respondents	% (n = 542)
Gender
Male	207	38%
Female	330	61%
FTM	1	0%
Non-binary	3	1%
Prefer not to say	1	0%
Age
18–24	121	22%
25–34	155	29%
35–44	118	22%
45–54	65	12%
55–64	58	11%
65 and over	25	5%
Political affiliation
Conservative	156	29%
Labour	183	34%
Liberal democrat	61	11%
None	38	7%
Other	9	2%
Don't know	18	3%
Plaid Cymru	1	0%
Reform UK (formerly Brexit Party)	2	0%
Scottish National Party (SNP)	12	2%
The Green Party	58	11%
United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)	4	1%
Education
Secondary school/GCSE	50	9%
College/A levels	158	29%
Undergraduate degree	162	30%
Postgraduate degree	132	24%
Doctorate	22	4%
Other qualification	16	3%
No formal qualifications	2	0%
Main news source
Newspapers	26	5%
Online media	272	50%
Radio	16	3%
Social media	102	19%
Television	124	23%

Table 4. Awareness of fact-checking services (n = 1,065).

Fact-checking	Reality check	C4 Fact check	Full fact	Sky News Campaign check
Aware of	31% (334)	9% (100)	11% (120)	5% (49)
Not aware of	69% (730)	91% (965)	89% (945)	95% (1016)

Table 5. Use of fact-checking services (n = 1,065).

Frequency	Reality check	C4 Fact check	Full fact
Not at all	78% (830)	93% (991)	91% (966)
Once or twice	18% (193)	6% (60)	6% (61)
Regularly	4% (42)	1% (14)	4% (38)

Table 6. Support for fact-checking according to political ideology and party allegiance.

	All	Left	Right	Lab	Con
Don't know	12% (66)	11% (36)	12% (19)	10% (18)	12% (19)
Fact-check less	6% (32)	4% (13)	10% (16)	3% (16)	10% (16)
Fact-check more	82% (444)	84% (266)	78% (127)	87% (159)	78% (121)
Grand total	542	100% (315)	100% (162)	100% (183)	100% (156)

Table 7. Support for fact-checking according to engagement with MSM and political engagement.

	All	MSM engaged	MSM disengaged	Pol engaged	Not pol engaged
Don't know	12% (66)	11% (30)	14% (16)	7% (17)	15% (25)
Fact-check less	6% (32)	6% (16)	9% (10)	7% (16)	5% (9)
Fact-check more	82% (444)	84% (233)	77% (86)	85% (194)	80% (137)
Grand total	542	279	112	227	171