When asked to pick who was the most to blame for the spread of misinformation about current events in the US and the world, 77% of respondents picked social media users, while social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and politicians were picked by 72% of those surveyed each.
Slightly over a half of all respondents considered the Russian and Chinese governments responsible for spreading false information, 54 and 53%, respectively. Iranian authorities were chosen by 39% of the Americans surveyed, and 41% blamed political structures of other countries, compared to 48% of US citizens blaming their own government.
Older people were considerably more prone to believe in the involvement of foreign governments than younger people, the poll showed.
A total of 81% percent of Americans consider the spread of misinformation a serious issue.
The survey was conducted among 1,071 Americans aged over 18 on September 9-13.