More than four in 10 Irish people are dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their country, according to a new large-scale EU-wide survey.
The report, carried out on behalf of the European Commission, highlights Irish citizens’ above-average dissatisfaction with various aspects of democracy, including access to accurate information, the expression of political opinions and engagement with politicians. I have to.
It also revealed that Irish people perceive false and misleading information, circulating both online and offline, as the most serious threat to democracy.
The Eurobarometer poll also highlighted that 40% of Irish respondents said they believed they had been personally exposed to disinformation and fake news frequently in the last week, compared to an average of 35%. This is the 8th highest rate in the EU.
A further 34% of Irish adults said they had sometimes been exposed to misleading information over the same period.
Only 18% of Irish people claimed to have had little or no exposure to disinformation or fake news.
A survey of EU public attitudes towards democracy found that 42 per cent of Irish adults expressed dissatisfaction with democracy in Ireland, including 19 per cent who were “not at all satisfied” with the way democracy works. It became clear that
Fifty-four percent of Irish respondents were satisfied with the democratic system in their country, but only the ninth highest rate among the 27 EU member states.
Two-thirds (67%) of Irish people agreed that they have access to accurate information about important national topics in their country from multiple media sources.
However, satisfaction with access to accurate information was eighth lowest among the 27 EU member states, below the EU average of 72%.
Similarly, just under two-thirds (64%) of Irish people say they can express their political views without fear of negative consequences, ranking ninth in the EU with an average of 68%. The rate was low.
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When asked about their ability to engage with politicians, 58% of Irish respondents agreed that they were able to discuss issues with candidates and parties, which is in line with the regional average but still the eighth lowest percentage in the EU. It becomes.
The survey of 25,600 citizens across the EU, including more than 1,000 in Ireland, found that women, people under 40, people living in rural areas and people with lower levels of education are more likely to be dissatisfied with their country’s democracy. was found to be high.
When asked about the most serious threats to democracy, 39 per cent of Irish respondents said misinformation and misleading information was their biggest concern, followed by growing distrust and skepticism of democratic institutions ( (31 percent), voters continued to lack knowledge about the functioning of democratic institutions. democratic process (26%);
When asked who is best able to protect democracy, Irish people say they most trust their fellow citizens (65%), and a majority support EU institutions, civil society organizations and the court system.
However, a minority of people expressed confidence in the media (41%) and political parties and politicians (38%) to defend democracy, although this was above the EU average.
69 per cent of Irish respondents said online social networks were their main source of disinformation and fake news.
Television was cited as the top source of misleading information by 28 percent, followed by online newspapers (24 percent) and messaging apps (20 percent).
More than half of Irish people (52%) said online platforms should do more to prevent the spread of false and misleading information, but argued they should not be responsible for reducing the spread of information. was only 6%.
When asked about ways to combat disinformation, the majority of Irish respondents (52%) said they would like people using online platforms to encourage people to verify information before sharing it with others. Ta.
Only 15 percent of Internet users felt competent enough to tell the difference between truth and falsehood on their own.
Alarmingly, a majority of respondents across 17 EU member states were dissatisfied with their democracy.
In 11 countries, more than a quarter of respondents said they were “very dissatisfied” with the way their democracy works. These included France, Poland and Greece, with Hungary recording the highest rate among EU countries at 49%.
The European Commission says that democracy in the EU and its member states has faced many challenges in recent years, including the rise of extremism and polarization, the growing distance between citizens and their elected representatives, and the spread of disinformation. He said he was facing.
The European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP) empowers people and builds more resilient democracies across the EU by promoting free and fair elections, strengthening media freedom and pluralism, and countering disinformation. He claimed that it was intended to.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a 2022 reform package that will deepen action under EDAP and “expose covert foreign influence and suspicious funding.”