Disinformation and fake news increasingly influencing Europe
Perceived exposure to disinformation and fake news in the EU has jumped eight percentage points since 2022. Experts say media literacy and fact-checking are crucial to countering the trend, Euronews writes.
Disinformation and fake news have become defining features in the news. The rise of social media has further accelerated their spread and visibility.
Perceived exposure to disinformation and fake news is rising across Europe, according to a Eurobarometer survey.
In 2025, more than a third of respondents in the EU (36%) said they were ‘often’ or ‘very often’ exposed to disinformation and fake news over the past seven days. This compares with 28 percent in 2022. Only 12 percent said they feel confident in recognising disinformation.
When responses of ‘very often’ and ‘often’ are combined, perceived exposure to disinformation and fake news ranges from 26 percent in Finland and Germany to 57 percent in Hungary.
More than half of respondents also reported this perception in Romania (55%) and Spain (52%). The share was above 40 percent in Bulgaria (48%), Luxembourg (45%), Malta (45%), Greece (43%), Cyprus (42%), and Ireland (42%).
At the lower end, besides Finland and Germany (both 26%), the share was 30 percent or lower in Czechia (29%), Sweden (30%), Lithuania (30%), and France (30%). The Netherlands, Latvia, and Belgium were also close to this level, at just under one-third.
People in Eastern and Southern Europe tend to report higher exposure to disinformation, while those in Northern and Western Europe generally report lower exposure.
However, this pattern isn’t uniform: countries such as Luxembourg and Ireland report relatively high exposure, while Czechia, Italy, and Portugal report lower levels than their regions might suggest.
On average in the EU, three in ten respondents (31%) said they were ‘sometimes’ exposed to disinformation and fake news in the past seven days.
In the EU, only 7 percent said they were ‘never’ exposed to disinformation and fake news, while 16 percent reported being exposed ‘rarely.’
