Over 7 in 10 Filipinos See Disinformation as Major Problem, Survey Finds

Seventy-two percent of adult Filipinos consider the spread of false information as a big problem in the country, results of Pulse Asia’s July 2026 survey showed. According to the Ulat ng Bayan National Survey, of those that answered that this was a big problem, 32% said it was “very big” and 40% said it was “somewhat big.” Meanwhile, 24% expressed indecision on the matter while 4% found that the spread of fake news to be a small problem. Despite a majority finding disinformation to be concerning, only 56% of adult Filipinos would find another trustworthy source to verify which of two different versions of information is true. Around 19% said they believe the information that most people agree with, 14% said they believe the first information they encounter, and 11% simply accept that there are always two sides to every story. Results of the survey also showed that 41% of adults are inclined to believe something that is shared by many people online while 44% are undecided. The survey was conducted on June 28 to July 3 and July 6 through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 adults. It had a ±2 percentage-point margin of error at the 95% confidence level for national estimates and ±4 percentage points for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. According to the survey, 85% of adults are internet users with 80% going online more than once a day. A total of 100% use the internet to check their social media accounts while 97% use the internet for engaging with political news. Meanwhile, 99% of internet users are on Facebook with 91% using the platform as their online source of news. 73% of users have Youtube accounts with 61% using the platform as their source for news. “Facebook is the online news source of most, if not nearly all, internet users across the different areas and classes (89% to 95% and 90% to 98%, respectively),” it said. “As for YouTube, it is also mentioned by small to huge majorities in most areas and classes,” it added. Only 42% internet users have Tiktok, 17% have Instagram, and 6% have Twitter/ X. — RSJ, GMA News