What Role Do Social Media, Fake News and Deepfakes Play in Everyday Digital Life? (2026)
Social media are an integral part of everyday life for many people in Germany. They are used to communicate with others, for entertainment and guidance, and to access news and current information. At the same time, distinguishing reliable content from false or misleading information is becoming increasingly challenging. Many people regularly encounter disinformation and fake news, while new technologies such as deepfakes create additional risks for trust, opinion formation and digital communication.
This study report examines how internet users in Germany use social networks, messaging services and video platforms, the role these services play in providing access to news, and how news sources on social media are perceived. It also explores how easy or difficult respondents find it to assess the reliability of news, the topics on which they encounter disinformation, and the measures they consider important for tackling fake news.
The findings are based on a representative CATI survey of 1,006 people aged 16 and over in Germany, conducted by Bitkom Research.
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DOI (German version): 10.64022/2026-desinformation
