SURVEY ⟩ Fact-checkers have not earned Estonians' trust

A recent survey has found that Estonian citizens mostly perceive fact-checkers as being more politically biased than trustworthy. Photo: AFOLABI SOTUNDE / REUTERS / Scanpix

A recent survey has found that Estonian citizens mostly perceive fact-checkers as being more politically biased than trustworthy.

In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that, in an effort to promote free speech, the platform would be easing moderation of political content and replacing fact-checking with a community notes system. The change will initially be implemented in the United States. Commenting on the changes, Zuckerberg said, «Fact-checkers have been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created.»

In the latest poll for the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, respondents were asked whether they agree or disagree with this view. Of the respondents, 21 percent said «no» or «rather no,» while 45 percent said «rather yes» or «yes,» meaning they agreed with Zuckerberg's opinion. In addition, 35 percent of respondents said they had no opinion on the matter.

In terms of party preference, 79 percent of voters of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), 53 percent of voters of the Center Party and 45 percent of voters of Isamaa believe that the fact-checking has been too politically biased and has destroyed more trust than it has created. Among Social Democratic Party (SDE) supporters, 36 percent disagreed and 26 percent agreed. Of Reform Party supporters, 51 percent disagreed and 18 percent agreed.

The polling was done by Norstat on Jan. 10-11 by conducting online interviews with a total of 1,000 Estonian citizens aged 18 and over.