Study: Trust in news declines amid high social media use

Trust in news has declined in the country as social media continues to be the dominant source of information for Filipinos, a study by the Reuters Institute found.

According to this year’s Digital News Report released on Tuesday, overall trust in news fell by 10 percent, from 38 percent in 2025 to 28 percent in 2026. This was lower than the global average of 37 percent.

READ: Filipinos consuming less news, not switching platforms — analyst

Article continues after this advertisement

The study also noted that social media remains the dominant source of news in the country as consumption of television and print continues to decline, while the use of online news has plateaued.

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

“Fewer Filipinos now access news directly via TV, radio or websites, while social media use remains stable, suggesting that more people encounter journalism through platform feeds shaped by polarization, political messaging and disinformation,” said the study.

The report said news consumers worldwide have started turning to social media and video platforms rather than traditional outlets for information.

Based on the report, 85 percent of respondents said they consume news online, including through websites, applications, social or video networks, news podcasts and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.

The institute said the figure was unchanged from 2020.

Article continues after this advertisement

Some 70 percent reported obtaining news from social media, a slight increase from 68 percent in 2020, with internet penetration recorded at 67 percent.

The institute said TV and print are on the decline, with only 42 percent and 10 percent of respondents saying they get news from TV and print, respectively.

Article continues after this advertisement

TV recorded the biggest drop, from 66 percent in 2020, while those who consume news from print media fell from 22 percent.

Same with the rest of the world

Across the world, social media and video network consumption is ahead of other news sources as the most widely used source of news, at 54 percent.

The institute said respondents pointed to social media or video platforms as their source of news.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

The report pointed out that the 54 percent could rise to 56 percent if AI chatbots like ChatGPT were included.