The large majority of Americans think that the spread of false information online is a “major threat” to the U.S., topping terrorism, the state of the global economy and climate change, according to a new survey.
The Pew Research Center survey, published Tuesday, found that 70 percent of U.S. adults said they view the spread of false information online as a “major threat” to the country. Another 24 percent said it is a “minor threat,” while 5 percent argued it is not a threat.
Many Americans also saw terrorism (61 percent), the condition of the global economy (60 percent), climate change (51 percent) and the spread of infectious diseases (50 percent) as major threats to the country, the poll showed.
The perception of these threats depended on the respondent’s age and personal politics, pollsters found.
The majority of self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saw all five issues as a major threat to the U.S., while Republicans and GOP-leaning voters did not have as much concern about the issues, apart from terrorism, according to the poll.
The stark divide was on climate change, where 78 percent of Democrats said it is a major threat to the country, compared to just 24 percent of Republicans. Democrats were more likely to argue that the spread of infectious diseases, false information online and the condition of the economy are major threats to the nation compared to GOP respondents.
When it comes to terrorism, Republicans were more likely to say it is a major threat to the U.S. (69 percent to 53 percent).
Americans ages 65 and older were more likely to say the spread of false information online, infectious diseases and terrorism are major threats to the country, compared to those under the age of 30, according to the survey.
The poll was conducted March 24-30 among 3,605 U.S. adults.
