62pc of digital content creators do not fact-check info before sharing, Unesco survey shows

A new report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has revealed that two-thirds of digital content creators do not check their facts before sharing content.

The report, titled ‘Behind the Screens’ and released on Tuesday, is the first global analysis of digital content creators’ motivations and practices, as well as the challenges they face, according to a Unesco press release.

It involved 500 influencers in 45 countries, with the expertise of a dedicated research team at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, United States.

According to the report, in terms of sharing content with their audience, 62 per cent of the surveyed digital content creators “admitted to not verifying the accuracy of information before sharing it with their audiences”.

About one-third of them (33.5pc) reported that they would share content without checking if they trusted the source or creator.

At the same time, over one-third of creators (36.9pc) reported checking the content before dissemination.

Some interviewed participants emphasised the importance of accuracy and credibility in their work and recognised the potential consequences of sharing unverified information, the survey noted.

The survey found that fact-checking was not the norm, as well as that content creators face difficulty in determining the best criteria for assessing the credibility of information they find online.

Almost 42pc of respondents said they used the number of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ a post had received on social media as the main indicator.

While nearly 21pc were happy to share content with their audiences if it had been shared with them “by friends they trusted”, 19pc said they relied “on the reputation” of the original author or publisher of content.

Another 17pc said they depended on the documentation and evidence used to support the claim or argument.

The report added that journalists could be of valuable help to digital content creators to confirm the trustworthiness of the information they are sharing.

However, the report found that linkages and collaboration are still rare between these two groups.

According to the survey, mainstream news media was only the third most common source (36.9pc) for content creators, after their own experience and their own research and interviews.

Lack of awareness

The Unesco survey also revealed that a majority of digital content creators (59pc) were either not familiar with or had only heard of regulatory frameworks and global standards relating to digital communications.

Out of 56.4pc respondents who said they were aware of training programmes addressed to them, only 13.9pc participated in any of them, the report said.

The lack of awareness also made these digital creators subject to legal scrutiny including prosecution and conviction in some countries.

Unesco added that it has started a training programme specifically for digital content creators, saying it was the world’s first training course built for and with influencers.

It aimed to empower content creators to address disinformation and hate speech as well as provide them with a solid grounding in global human rights standards on freedom of expression and information.

The Unesco statement added that the course has just started and runs for four weeks, with over 9,000 people from 160 countries currently part of the programme.

Speaking on the topic, Unesco Director-General Audrey Azoulay said: “Digital content creators have acquired an important place in the information ecosystem, engaging millions of people with cultural, social or political news.

“But many are struggling in the face of disinformation and online hate speech and calling for more training. As part of its mandate for media and information literacy, Unesco will support them through the first-ever global training course.”