Truth Matters: The 2024 survey on what Taiwanese think about misinformation and fact-checking

By Wei-Ping Li, Ph.D.

A most recent study conducted by the Graduate Institute of Journalism and the Taiwan Social Resilience Research Center at the National Taiwan University revealed that 95.05% of Taiwanese had received misinformation (Note 1). This figure represents a significant increase from the 82.78% reported in a 2023 survey. This 2024 study also reveals an encouraging result: an increasing number of Taiwanese are aware of the work of Taiwanese fact-checking organizations and are becoming more willing to turn to fact-checking tools for verifying information. Additionally, a growing number of individuals show their trust in the work of Taiwanese fact-checkers. 

This research was conducted from October 25 to October 30, 2024, via an online survey. The survey participants were selected from a database maintained by the National Taiwan University web survey platform. All the 2,422 participants were over the age of 20 and lived in Taiwan. The research team also conducted similar surveys in 2022 and 2023.

More Taiwanese are aware of misinformation

According to the research team, one of the reasons why more Taiwanese reported being exposed to misinformation is that more false information pieces have spread throughout Taiwanese society. However, this could also suggest that Taiwanese people are increasingly aware of misinformation. When asked another question, "How often do you encounter misinformation in your daily life?" 35.39% of respondents stated, "Very often." The rate also increased from 28.6% in 2023. Furthermore, 5.38% reported encountering deception every day, while 57.31% answered "occasionally."

Not surprisingly, given that Taiwanese are often exposed to misinformation, they are concerned about its influence on society. 94.42% of respondents considered the impact of misinformation to be "serious" or "very serious."

Data source:  2024 Annual Misinformation Survey

Media professionals, politicians, and foreign actors are the primary producers of misinformation

According to the survey, Taiwanese citizens believe that politicians (73.06%), foreign actors (71.75%), and media professionals (70.2%) are the primary sources of disinformation, creating misinformation on a frequent or occasional basis. The percentage of each category being seen as primary creators of misinformation has increased over last year's results. Moreover, the percentage of those who believed foreign actors tampered with information increased by 9%, indicating a significant increase when compared to other categories. This increase may suggest that the Taiwanese were becoming more aware of false information from outside, especially given that Taiwan just held its presidential election in January 2024, during which the risks of disinformation and propaganda interference from China were much highlighted. 

As for what people think about the tools that are often used to spread misinformation, the internet tops other media as the most important medium to disseminate misinformation. 88.78% of participants responded that misinformation was distributed on the internet every day or frequently. Mobile phones rank second on the list, followed by "TVs and radios" and "print newspapers and magazines." The neighborhood is viewed as the least likely source of misinformation.  

A significant increase in using fact-checking tools to verify information

This survey also shows that fact-checking has been a popular way for Taiwanese to verify information. In 2023, 60.5% of respondents indicated that they would "use fact-checking tools" to verify suspicious content. The amount of people who use fact-checking mechanisms has increased substantially by 2024, with 71.03% of respondents using "fact-checking tools" to verify information. Nonetheless, "discussing with friends and family members" remained the most popular option when people were suspicious about the information (76.84%), followed by "consulting books or other materials" (71.56%).    

Data source:  2024 Annual Misinformation Survey

Whereas Taiwanese mostly rely on interpersonal verification to ensure the accuracy of information, they also believe that, as individuals, the greatest way to contribute to the prevention of the spread of misinformation is to alert friends and family members of inaccurate information. 82.94% of respondents stated they would correct family members or friends who shared incorrect information. 51% stated they would share information online to clarify or correct facts, while 38.99% would write comments to provide the facts under posts that contained false information. When compared to survey results from 2023, the researchers found that more people were willing to use the internet to rectify false information or actively disseminate fact-checked results.

Fact-checking organizations and their work were more valued among Taiwanese

This report also surveyed Taiwanese's opinions about fact-checking organizations in general and how Taiwanese use fact-checking reports produced by these organizations (Note 2). According to the survey findings, 74% of respondents knew that there are fact-checking organizations in Taiwan. The percentage of Taiwanese awareness of fact-checking organizations has risen from the 2023 result of 58.6%. Among the survey participants, 51.28% said they occasionally used fact-checking organizations' reports to verify information, and 14.19 stated "often." In 2023, only 37.1% of the participants "occasionally" and 9.8% "often" consulted fact-checking reports. 

Data source:  2024 Annual Misinformation Survey

Trust in Taiwanese fact-checking organizations among Taiwanese society has also grown from 2023 to 2024. In 2024, 68.41% of the respondents saw Taiwanese fact-checking organizations as "credible" or "very credible," compared with 2023, in which 60.4% said "credible" or "very credible."

Taiwanese support legislation to curb misinformation

Taiwanese citizens, like those in other democratic countries who have been severely assailed by false information, have confronted the challenge of balancing free expression with the need to regulate misinformation, particularly those distributed on social media. This study also polled Taiwanese citizens regarding approaches to prevent misinformation. According to the findings, more people (36.2%) believe that enacting legislation to prevent the spread of misinformation is the most effective way to combat online misinformation, while the second-best measure is for media outlets to improve the accuracy of their reporting. Interestingly, only 7.52% of the respondents thought that social media platforms' voluntary moderation of content was the best way to limit misinformation. 

The majority of respondents (72.92%) agreed that the government should prohibit online misinformation despite the fact that doing so would limit free expression. On the contrary, just 27.08% opposed laws to combat misinformation if people's free speech will be restricted. Compared to the poll results in 2023, more respondents agree that legislative measures are needed to combat misinformation, reflecting Taiwanese significant concerns about misinformation, as noted by the researchers in the paper. Furthermore, 91.33% of respondents believe there should be rules requiring social media to build self-discipline measures to reduce misinformation, while 88.22% believe there should be regulations requiring social media to be transparent with their algorithms.

Data source:  2024 Annual Misinformation Survey

Those who use AI more often in their daily lives are more likely to say they have encountered AI-generated misinformation

As AI-generated misinformation grows more prevalent, the survey discovered that 37.58% of all respondents claimed they received it occasionally, while 8.10% said they received it frequently. Those who indicated they often used AI were more likely to encounter AI-generated misinformation, with 45% saying they encountered it occasionally and 19.3% saying they saw it frequently. Furthermore, those who frequently utilized AI were more confident in detecting AI-generated misinformation.  

Data source:  2024 Annual Misinformation Survey

Conclusion

Over the past years, researchers, journalists, and policymakers have investigated and debated over a variety of strategies to counter false information. The efficacy of media literacy and fact-checking has long been in the spotlight of the discussion. This survey delivered several encouraging findings to the Taiwanese fact-checking community. First of all, it shows that the Taiwanese have become more aware of misinformation in the information ecosystem. Moreover, Taiwanese audiences have become more familiar with fact-checking tools. Among the verification resources, fact-checking organizations have become more known to audiences and gained recognition. The results could serve as evidence that the promotion of media literacy and fact-checking has been fruitful in Taiwan after years of effort. 

On the other hand, this study demonstrates that false information remains a major concern in Taiwanese society, and Taiwanese are still looking for more effective ways to address the issue. The problem is embodied by the increasing volume of false information that has inundated Taiwanese society in 2024, ranging from disinformation spread during elections to scams that frustrate individuals in everyday life. With so much concern about false information, it is not surprising that a significant majority of the Taiwanese public favors steps to limit misinformation, even if it means sacrificing free speech. 

However, the same survey notes that there are other methods supported by individuals, such as improving the quality of news reporting to provide viewers with accurate information. With the rise of artificial intelligence, combating misinformation has become even more challenging. This research reminds the fact-checking community of the audience's most recent concerns and guides future efforts.

Note: The survey was conducted in Chinese. In the Chinese version, the researchers of this survey used the Chinese terms "假訊息" or "假消息" in the questionnaire and the report. The Chinese terms are often translated as "fake news" in English. In a similar report conducted by the same research team in 2023, the researchers used the word "misinformation" in the English version of their report summary. I thus followed the practice and used the term "misinformation" for the Chinese terms "假訊息" or "假消息." However, I want to note that the Chinese terms encompass a wide range of false information, which could be created or spread intentionally or unintentionally by any actors, including state actors or individuals.  

Note 2: There are multiple fact-checking organizations/initiatives in Taiwan, including the Taiwan Factcheck Center, Cofacts, MyGoPen, the Asia Fact Check Lab, Auntie Meiyu, etc. The survey report does not specify individual fact-checking organizations when asking participants about their awareness of fact-checking initiatives; neither does the report ask participants to evaluate the credibility of each fact-checking organization.

Wei-Ping Li is a research fellow at the Taiwan FactCheck Center.