Although teens spend on average five hours a day on social media (per one 2023 Gallup poll), they're not necessarily better at discerning fact from fiction compared to adults. — Image by standret on Freepik
It's not just your coworker or socially awkward uncle who is now prone to believe the earth is flat or in the existence of a deep state: A new survey from the nonprofit the News Literacy Project found that 81% of teens in the US believe at least one conspiracy theory.
The Oct 21 study, looking at a representative sample of 1,110 teens ages 13 to 18, found that half see conspiracy theories online once a week or more, and most are not able to accurately distinguish between different kinds of news and information sources, like op-eds and news articles.
