Four in ten UK adults encountered misinformation or deepfakes ahead of the general election, Ofcom finds

New research published by Ofcom has revealed that more than 40 per cent of UK adults had seen misinformation or deepfake content ahead of the general election on 4 July.

Carried out by YouGov in the week before the general election, the poll revealed UK adults’ levels of exposure to “false or misleading” information and how they thought and felt about it.

Most respondents said they had seen misleading content online – 71 per cent – followed by TV and newspapers or associated websites/apps.

They were most likely to have seen false or misleading information about UK politics, including the election – 39 per cent – followed by international politics and current affairs, and health and medical information.

Around three in 10 UK adults also believed that there was significant evidence of large-scale election fraud.

A majority acknowledged that online information would always be a mix of reliable and unreliable posts yet less than a quarter said they’d check the information on a trusted news website if they came across misinformation.

Almost half of those surveyed – 45 per cent – felt they could confidently judge whether sources of information were truthful, yet the number of those confident on their ability to detect false content fell by 15 per cent when asked about content generated by artificial intelligence.

The survey also revealed men, young adults, people from higher socio-economic backgrounds, minority ethnic and LGB+ groups, and those with mental health conditions were more likely to say they had come across misinformation.

The research comes as Ofcom announced Lord Richard Allan, who was already a non-executive member of regulator’s board, as chair of the new Misinformation and Disinformation Advisory Committee, and as it prepares to enforce the Online Safety Act next year.

Ofcom said the survey, which  gathered more than 4,2000 responses, will help it deliver on its media literacy duty to improve public awareness of the nature impact of misinformation and disinformation online.