Study Finds That News Source X Has The Most False Information

Pew Research’s latest study shows that X, the messaging app that used to be called Twitter, has the most loyal group of people who are looking for news on social media.

Most Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok users in the U.S. said that news wasn’t a reason they used those sites. However, X users said that news is either a major or minor reason they return to the platform, and about half said they regularly get news there.

Pew says that Facebook is the best social media site for Americans to get news—31% of U.S. adults regularly get news on Facebook, compared to 16% on Instagram, 14% on TikTok, and 12% on X.

But half of X’s users regularly get news on the app, compared to 40% on TikTok, 37% on Facebook, and 30% on Instagram. This indicates that X is a better place to get news than other places.

A majority of X users (65%) said that news was one of the main reasons they used it, with 25% saying that they used it to keep up with the news. This is in contrast to 15% of TikTok users, 7% of Facebook users, and 8% of Instagram users.

Following Twitter’s lead in showing breaking news in real-time, X also stood out as a place to see it. 75% of users said they see breaking news there, compared to 58% on Facebook, 55% on TikTok, and 44% on Instagram.

The news sources that people see on these sites are also different. Most Instagram and Facebook users say that “friends and family” are their main source of news. However, for X consumers, this is the least common source (26%), followed by influencers or celebrities (49%), advocacy or nonprofit organizations (46%), other people they don’t know personally (75%), and news outlets and journalists (81%).

Some people may be most worried about Pew’s results because, even though X says it has the most loyal news readers, it also got the worst marks for accuracy. All of the platforms that Pew looked at have a lot of news stories that are full of false information. However, 86% of X’s base said they see false news, and 37% said they see it often.

As Meta takes firm steps to limit its news output on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, which are the only other possible breaking news alternatives to X, Elon Musk’s app dominates the spread and consumption of news content. This could have an impact on the upcoming presidential election, especially given the large amount of fake news on the platform.