Young People and the Challenges of Disinformation: An Analysis of the Spanish Situation (2022–2023)

Abstract

Given their widespread use of social media—the preferred channel for spreading fake news—to keep up with current events, young people are the demographic most exposed to disinformation. In this article, we analyse young Spaniards’ perceptions of the phenomenon, as well as their perceived ability to recognize fake news, taking into account the influence that certain independent variables (age, gender, province, environment, level of education, and political ideology) may have on the results. The fieldwork is based on two nationally representative surveys (n = 2932) conducted in 2022 and 2023. Several interesting findings can be drawn from the data: (a) a change in the identified main source of disinformation (traditional media in 2022 and the TikTok network in 2023); (b) an increase in misleading content related to current political events; (c) a moderate decline in young people’s ability to recognize fake news; and (d) a decline in the habit of verifying dubious information. In all of the cases, most of the independent variables considered in this study also had a significant impact, with particularly substantial differences being recorded depending on the gender, educational level, and ideology of the respondents.