Publication: December 14, 2025.
The open data and analysis tools in this collection of dashboards are based on an extensive survey and analysis conducted during 2024–2025. Through interactive tools, users can filter and compare patterns across key demographic and socio-political parameters, including age, gender, degree of religiosity, education level, and political orientation.
Drawing on a nationally representative sample (1,005 adult internet users, surveyed in Hebrew), the study examines how Israelis consume news, assess the credibility of information and sources, and the level of trust they place in different information sources in the post–Swords of Iron War context. The study also maps self-reported exposure to false or misleading information by topic, such as politics, elections, and armed conflicts.
This publication was developed as part of the Disinformation Resilience Israel (DRI) project, led by the Israeli Internet Association (ISOC-IL) and supported by the European Union (EU).
A. Patterns in the Use of Various Media Platforms for the Consumption of News and Science-Related Information
The survey findings indicate that the Israeli public consumes news mainly on digital platforms. Only 14% frequently obtain news from printed newspapers, while 31% frequently consume news via radio, and 48% frequently consume news via TV. The majority of Israelis prefer to obtain news on digital platforms: 61% consume news frequently using the websites and apps of official news channels, and 58% reported that they frequently consume news on social media platforms via channels that are not necessarily official news sources.
Dashboard 1 presents the frequency of respondents’ news consumption across different media platforms:
Age: The 31-39 age group consumes news through social media platforms most frequently, with 68% reporting frequent use of social media for news consumption. In other age groups, the use of social media for news consumption is significantly lower. In the 50+ age group, 71% obtain news on television, and 65% obtain news on official news apps or websites, while only 52% report frequent use of social media for news consumption.
Surprisingly, the 18-24 age group reported the highest frequency of news consumption from print newspapers, with 24% of this group consuming news from print newspapers. This unusual figure is partially explained by the high consumption of print newspapers by young people in the Haredi community. The fact that 35% of young Haredi individuals read news in newspapers skews the consumption patterns of the 18-24 age group. News consumption through newspapers is relatively high for all age groups in the Haredi community.
Gender: News consumption on social media also varies by gender. 65% of women frequently consume news on social media, compared to 50% of men.
A1. Comparing News Consumption and Science-related Information Consumption
In a general comparison of news and science-related information consumption, it is interesting to note that only 21% of the Israeli public consumes science-related information from official news channel websites or apps, and 22% from search engines (Google or other). A similar proportion consumes science-related information through social media platforms. Radio, print newspapers, and podcasts are each used by fewer than 10% of respondents to consume science-related information.
Interestingly, 34% of the Arab population consumes science-related information on social media, compared to 19% of the Jewish population. No significant differences were found when comparing respondents by level or type of education.
Dashboard 2 presents respondents’ rate of consumption of news and science-related information by media platform:
A2. Habits of the General Population Regarding News Consumption Platforms
The survey also tapped into Israelis’ news consumption habits on various social media platforms. Findings show that 42% of respondents regularly use Facebook as a source of news, 37% regularly use WhatsApp, and 29% regularly use Telegram.
Dashboard 3 presents the social media platforms and apps used frequently by the Israeli public for news consumption:
Gender: Telegram is used more frequently to obtain news by men than by women (33% of men respondents vs. 24% of women respondents), while women prefer Instagram (41% of women respondents vs. 18% of men respondents) and TikTok (17% of women respondents vs. 9% of men respondents).
Religiosity: As religious observance increases, the use of social media for news consumption declines. WhatsApp is the main app used by respondents (both Arabs and Jews) who identify as “very religious” (frequently used by 35% of very religious respondents). Focusing on Jewish religious respondents confirms this pattern, the higher the level of religiosity the more respondents tend to use WhatsApp as their primary social media platform of news, with 44% of religious (non-Haredi) Jewish respondents frequently using WhatsApp to consume news as opposed to 37% who frequently use Facebook for news, while only 37% of non-religious Jewish respondents frequently use WhatsApp for news as opposed to 52% who frequently consume news on Facebook.
A3. News Consumption Habits of Social Media Users
Focusing on social media users (rather than all respondents, as in section A2), we see that quite a few social networks constitute a source of news for the majority of their users. This calls into question the quality of information that is consumed on social media: for example, the majority of Telegram users (70%) regularly use the platform as a news source. It is important to note that Telegram is an unregulated platform and has no fact-checking function, which allows users to post almost any content, including false and/or offensive content. Similarly, 60% of Facebook users regularly use the platform to consume news. In January 2025, Facebook, owned by Meta, announced a change in its fact-checking policy and a transition from third-party fact-checking to the use of community notes, identical to the process used by X. This transition may undermine the credibility of the information posted on Facebook, as it did to the information posted on X. Nonetheless, the current survey shows that 58% of X users use X regularly to consume news. Although the news presented on these social networks is often unofficial and unregulated, and its credibility is doubtful, a large portion of the public consumes news on these platforms.
The emerging picture is that a considerable portion of social media users are consuming news content that is not necessarily reliable.
When it comes to consumption of news related to scientific topics, Facebook is by far the most commonly used platform: 34% of the population—and about half of Facebook’s own users—consume scientific information there, more than twice as many as on any other social media platform.
B. Public Trust in Legacy Media, Online Platforms, and Other News and Information Sources
We asked respondents how much they trust each of the following sources for news. Respondents rated their trust on a scale from 0 (lowest trust) to 100 (highest trust). The figures in the graph below show the average trust score among all respondents for each source.
For example, the average trust score for the source “groups or online influencers on social media” is 31 (see figure 4). Public broadcasting channels and commercial television channels received the highest trust scores (63 and 60, respectively). Friends and family were also rated as a trusted source of news, with a score of 62.
Dashboard 4 – Average Trust in Various News Sources:
According to the survey results, the degree to which the Israeli public uses various news sources to consume news does not necessarily align with the degree of trust they attribute to each source. News websites such as Ynet, Haaretz, and Israel Hayom received slightly lower credibility ratings than television channels (57 vs. 60, respectively). It is also interesting to see that 58% of the public uses social media platforms as a primary source of news consumption, despite a relatively low average credibility score of 45 – only 2 points above the mean credibility rating of blogs and podcasts (43), and 1 point lower than WhatsApp and Telegram (46). Online influencers are also perceived as having low credibility, receiving a trust score of 31.
Age: Young adults (aged 18-24) rate friends and family as the most credible news source, with a rating of 63, followed by public broadcast services (57). In contrast, adults aged 50+ rated public broadcast services as the most credible news source (69) and friends and family as the third most credible source (64).
C. Exposure to and Coping With False or Misleading Information
Respondents were asked about the frequency they had encountered false or misleading information on each medium or social network in the preceding month. Responses showed that, as a rule, people primarily encounter false or misleading information on social media platforms. In line with the previous finding regarding the mismatch between social media’s perceived credibility and status as a preferred source of news, respondents frequently consume news on social media despite relatively high levels of reported exposure to false or misleading information on these platforms. When grouping together respondents who encountered false or misleading information frequently with those who encountered it very frequently, TikTok had the highest reported frequency of exposure, with 34% of respondents. Meanwhile, 28% reported encountering false and misleading information frequently or very frequently in posts by online influencers and on WhatsApp groups. In other words, the main communication channels through which the public is exposed to false and misleading information are social media, and significantly less so on traditional media (21% and below).
Dashboard 5 – Frequency of Encountering False or Misleading Information in the Past Month, by Information Source:
Interestingly, the survey findings show considerable inconsistencies in the respondents’ answers, which highlights the challenge people face in identifying credible sources of information and consistently applying critical reasoning. For example, Israelis prefer to consume news from news websites, although the credibility of this source is rated fourth by the majority of the public, lagging behind the credibility rating given to public broadcasting news, friends and family, and commercial television channels. Based on respondents’ reported exposure to false information, news websites were considered relatively credible, as only 14% of respondents encountered false or misleading information on these websites, compared to 21% of respondents who encountered false or misleading information on commercial television channels. It is especially interesting to see that respondents use Facebook more than Telegram to consume news, even though they report a higher frequency of exposure to false and misleading information on Facebook and WhatsApp compared to Telegram.
Age: An interesting relationship between age and exposure to false and misleading information on Telegram also emerges from the data. Younger respondents (ages 18–24) reported a higher frequency of exposure to false and misleading information on Telegram (37%) compared to older respondents (22%, reported by respondents aged 31+). Overall, older respondents also demonstrated higher rates of Telegram use than younger respondents – 31% of users aged 31+, as compared to 20% of users aged 18-24. This may be explained by the fact that while older age groups use Telegram more frequently, they are less successful in identifying false information, since digital literacy is generally less developed in those age groups.
Drilling down to the subjects of the false information encountered by respondents very frequently, frequently or occasionally, the categories that stood out the most were related to the major current events of the last few years: 60% of respondents reported encountering false information on economic policies, and 62% reported encountering false information on vaccines (while only 34% reported encountering false information related to general health issues). False information was encountered even more frequently on issues related to military and national security matters (73%) and conflicts and wars around the world (72%). The subjects on which false information was encountered most frequently were politics and elections (82%). This finding may stem from biased interpretations by political supporters on both sides of the political map, who have contrasting political positions and ideologies, and support different candidates, but at least agree on one thing: the other side is lying. In any case, the vast majority of the public believes that a large portion of political content is unreliable and untrue. This finding is not necessarily the result of a bias stemming from the misidentification of false information, but is more likely due to one or both of the following two possibilities: (a) people hold political interpretations that cancel out contents propagated by the opposing political side (which both stems from and exacerbates social and political polarization), and (b) a general mistrust of the political system and its representatives, including the media establishment.
Dashboard 6 – Topics on which false or misleading information is encountered, by frequency:
: Significant findings emerge when focusing on the Jewish (non-Haredi) and Druze population between the ages of 18 and 24. 95% of respondents in this group reported encountering false information related to national security and the military. A possible explanation is that most members of this age and ethnic group serve in the IDF and may be uniquely positioned to identify discrepancies between news information and the reality they encounter in the course of their military service. On the other hand, it could be that their military service makes them overly skeptical about security or military-related information that appears in the media. We also found that 95% of this group encountered false or misleading information related to politics and elections. This high percentage may stem from the highly developed digital literacy skills among young Jewish and Druze adults, who are therefore better capable of identifying false information than other groups, such as young Arabs and older adults. These findings point to a pattern that could compromise people’s trust in elected officials, the military, and traditional media more broadly.
D. How Respondents Assess the Credibility of Online Information and Their Own Ability to Identify False Information
The following findings pertain to the public’s self-assessment of their ability to accurately identify false information that they encounter in the news and online. Over one-half of respondents (56.5%) believe that they can identify false information. This finding is surprising because 74% of respondents concur that it is currently more difficult to identify false information compared to the past.
To understand how the public assesses the credibility of information, respondents were asked to rate the frequency of their use of various strategies to determine whether the information they encounter is false. The rated strategies included common, intuitive strategies that require no special skills, technological knowledge, or expertise, and require only average familiarity with the platforms and social networks that were mentioned in the survey.
Strategies Used to Assess Credibility of Online News, in Order of Frequency
- Reasonability: How reasonable is it that the story is true? (73%)
- Cross-checking with other sources: Does the information also appear in another source? (73%)
- Trustworthiness of the platform: Do I trust the platform/website where the news information appears? (72%)
- Trustworthiness of the person who shared the information: Do I trust the person who is sharing the news information? (68%)
- Others’ engagement: What are other people’s responses and comments on the news information? (67%)
- Professionalism: Does the news information appear professional (in terms of style, language, spelling, and clarity)? (65%)
- Source credibility: The perceived credibility of the individual or organization that wrote the news item (60%)
- Past experience: Was the news item written by an organization from which I received information in the past? (55%)
- Eyewitness verification: Was the news item reported by an eyewitness? (54%)
- Fact-checking websites: Use of a fact-checking site (34%)
Focusing on the findings for each age group, we found that respondents between the ages of 18 and 30 are most likely to use strategies to check content credibility. At the same time, however, we found that older adults (65+) surprisingly lead in the frequency of use of certain strategies, even though members of this age group are the least frequent internet users. The group with the lowest level of digital literacy is adults aged 40-49. For example, 41% of the youngest respondents reported that they frequently check how much they trust the platform or the website that published the information, compared to 29% of adults between the ages of 40 and 49. Furthermore, 31% of the 25–30 age group frequently check whether the information originates from an organization they have previously received information from, compared to 15% of adults aged 40-49.
Though the 65+ age group consistently reported less frequent use of social media compared to younger age groups, they lead by far in the frequency of use of certain strategies, even compared to the youngest respondents. For example, the 65+ age group leads in the use of fact-checking websites (13% report frequent use), compared to only 3% of respondents in the 25–30 age group. Another example is that 23% of the 65+ age group check whether the reported news information was reported by an eyewitness, compared to only 14% of respondents in the 40–49 age group. An exception involves the use of other people’s responses and comments as a strategy: Only 22% of the 65+ age group use this strategy compared to 37% of the members of the youngest age group.
Conclusion
In summary, the findings of this study indicate that the majority of the Israeli public prefers to consume news from official news sources. However, a considerable portion of the population also consumes news via social media platforms. The majority of the population appears to be aware that false information exists on various media and takes steps to identify it. Apparently, young people do not automatically rely on the information they encounter, especially on social media and on topics related to security, the military, politics, and elections. Furthermore, this age group reports using various strategies to assess the credibility of online news more than any other age group. Finally, the findings trigger concerns about the potential damage to the Israeli public’s trust in its elected officials, the military, and traditional media, which are the pillars of every democratic society. Evidence of declining trust in core societal institutions, particularly among younger generations, may have meaningful implications for the resilience of Israel’s democratic and social institutions over time.