Systematic review · 443 studies · 1,048 estimates

How much misinformation do people actually see?

Published estimates run from a fraction of one percent to strong majorities. This review collects them, codes what each one measures, and quantifies why they disagree.

1.3%

of what people consume online is misinformation

18 studies · behavioural 12.0%

of people encounter it at least once

27 studies · behavioural 13.0%

of sharing acts carry misinformation

45 studies · behavioural 19.8%

say they have shared it

36 studies · surveys 23.0%

of items in a sampled corpus are misinformation

274 studies · coded content 57.7%

say they have seen it

71 studies · surveys 70%

of misinformation activity comes from the top 1% of users

5 studies · behavioural62.4% across the 10 studies reporting the top 1% or less

What drives the estimate

Study-level median prevalence by measurement type, sampling frame, ground-truth source, construct and identification level