Social media groups fuelling misinformation in local communities, think tank warns

Local communities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to misinformation as social media groups spread fake news, a think tank has warned.

Areas without reliable news sources are much more susceptible to online misinformation, according to a report released Monday by the Social Market Foundation (SMF).

It found that there was almost three times as much fake news in Facebook groups in “news deserts,” where local news organizations in local governments are absent or limited.

The study analyzed 125,000 social media posts and found that almost one in 26 news-related posts on Facebook were misinformation, while 28 percent were misinformation about X.

The report, titled “No news is bad news,” stated that where there are relatively more local news sources, there is half as much misinformation on average.

Social media has become the primary source of information in the UK; Almost half of Britons get their local news from these platforms.

According to the report, there was an increase in misinformation on social media during the local elections in May.

About 61 percent of misinformation in polling places was about national policy or council matters; the rate was 28 percent in a broader national analysis conducted earlier in the year.

During the Gorton and Denton midterm elections in February, the rate of misinformation in four local Facebook groups was 26 times higher.

The report found that 6.5 percent of posts during the midterm election contained false information, while an average of 3.8 percent was misinformation.

An example of this was a post designed to look like it was published by. Metro newspaper. UK Reform candidate Matthew Goodwin was mistakenly quoted as saying: “Mancunians are thick, Reform will easily win Gorton and Denton thanks to Facebook. Once elected I plan to avoid the place like the plague, I just want to get to Westminster.”

In another post seen during the local elections, it was claimed that Green Party leader Zack Polanski promised to abolish prisons if he was in government.

It also found that anti-immigrant sentiment or Islamophobia were the most common topics of misinformation about X, appearing at 32 percent.

The think tank called on the government to invest more in misinformation awareness campaigns and improve media literacy through the PHSE curriculum.

It also called on the government to recognize journalism as a charitable cause and to make it easier for local news organizations to gain charitable status.

In March the government announced £12 million in funding to support local news in a bid to fill “news deserts”.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “This strategy will provide unprecedented funding for local media organizations to invest in innovation and infrastructure, almost tripling the amount of funding for community radio, harnessing the power of local and national government and giving more young people access to high-quality journalism and the opportunity to pursue careers in it.

“Because local media is and always has been a ladder of opportunity to help new voices enter journalism. This is not a nice thing. It is essential to a cohesive country. Our debate is too narrow and too small. We will change this.”

Meta has a misinformation policy within its community standards, where it says it removes misinformation that is likely to “directly contribute to the risk of imminent physical harm” or “interfere with political processes.” Accounts that repeatedly post false information may be limited or banned from advertising.

approached x Independent for comment.

A government spokesman said: “We are working extensively across Government to tackle misinformation and the threat it poses to our democracy. Platforms already have a legal duty under the Online Safety Act to remove unlawful disinformation and the regulator has our full support to go after those who fail to comply.”

“But regulation alone is not enough. That’s why we’ve launched a media literacy campaign that gives parents and carers practical tools to help children build resilience and spot misinformation, ensuring people can think critically about online content.”