When you're unsure whether a piece of information on social media is disinformation, what do you typically do?

This table illustrates the typical verification strategies employed by European citizens when encountering suspected disinformation on social media across European member states in 2022. Almost half of European citizens (49%) rely on cross-referencing information to verify social media content. However, specialised fact-checking tools are significantly underutilised, with only 14% of people using them. This 'verification gap' suggests that most users rely on informal peer feedback rather than professional infrastructure to navigate digital falsehoods.