Six out of 10 young people in Malta say they are often exposed to fake news, according to a recent Eurobarometer survey.
Some 29% of Maltese people between the ages of 16 and 30 said they had encountered disinformation or fake news “very often” in the seven days preceding the survey, which was carried out in September and October.
This was double the European average, the Youth Survey 2024 found. The proportion who said they encountered fake news “often” was around a third (30%).
But young people in Malta were also confident in their ability to spot fake news, with nine out of 10 (89%) saying they could identify disinformation. That was the highest proportion across the EU.
Meanwhile, young people in Malta (47%) were more likely than the average European (42%) to get their news from social media and less likely from TV or online news outlets.
Graphic: Eurobarometer.The most popular social media platforms for the Maltese to get information on political and social issues were Facebook (39%), YouTube (36%) and Instagram (26%). Elon Musk-owned platform X and Chinese social media giant TikTok trailed with 25% and 13%, respectively.
The preference of social media platforms in Malta bucked the trend seen across Europe. The average young person in the EU was almost twice as likely to access political and social-themed content from Instagram (47%) and three times more likely from TikTok (39%).
Political engagement and the EU
Maltese respondents who said they did not vote in the MEP elections in June were most likely to say that no party or candidate or party represented their views (37%), more than double the European average (15%).
The other most cited reasons were saying they did not have enough information to make a choice (29%) and not trusting politicians (25%).
Over a fifth (22%) of those between the ages of 16 and 30 in Malta said they felt more attached to Europe and their European identity than their country or local community, the highest proportion in the EU.
Nevertheless, two-fifths (40%) said they mostly felt attached to their national identity, slightly more than the European average (34%), the Youth survey 2024 found.
Asked about benefits of EU membership, the Maltese were the most likely to point to study and volunteer programmes abroad such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps – the main benefit identified by young people in most EU countries.
Young people in Malta also had the most positive view of the European Parliament, with 73% expressing a favourable opinion followed by Ireland (67%) and Estonia (64%).
At the other end of the spectrum, young people in Greece (28%), Austria and Germany (both 33%) were the least positive about the EP.
Quizzed on what they thought the priorities of the EU should be over the next five years, young people in Malta were most likely to highlight the environment, economy and access to social welfare.