A new report, jointly released today by the University of Canberra (UC), Western Sydney University, QUT and RMIT University, reveals that 97 per cent of adult Australians have poor or limited ability to verify information online.
The report also found that more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of research participants reported encountering misinformation during a one-week diary study. Of those who did see misinformation, they encountered on average 7.5 examples of misinformation per week.
Lead author Professor Sora Park, from UC's News and Media Research Centre, said the findings reveal a concerning situation – Australians are encountering large volumes of misinformation every week, but few have the skills to fact-check what they're seeing.
"The sheer volume of information online and the speed at which new information travels can be overwhelming and very difficult to navigate," Professor Park said.
