The poll findings come at a time when the far-right continues to push misinformation on social media in a bid to sow divisions and whip up fears against minorities.
A clear majority of voters believe that the government is not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation on social media, an exclusive poll for LFF has found.
The poll, carried out by Savanta, found that 63% of voters believe that the government is not doing enough to stop the spread of disinformation on social media, compared to just 19% who believe that the government is doing enough.
There is also cross-party agreement that the government is not doing enough to combat misinformation on social media, with 66% of Tory voters believing that the government is not doing enough, as well as 63% of Labour Party voters and 76% of Lib Dem voters.
The poll findings come at a time when the far-right continues to push misinformation on social media in a bid to sow divisions and whip up fears against minorities. Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, has repeatedly shared misinformation on his own platform to attack the Labour government.
And to make matters worse, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also announced that his company will be abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, as he also tries to cosy up to the Trump presidency.
With widespread misinformation on social media undermining social cohesion, calls have grown for the government to take a tougher stance towards social media platforms.
Earlier this month, after Trump’s election win, Sadiq Khan called on the government to ‘ratchet up the pressure on social media companies to tackle lies, hate and misinformation.’
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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