On digital disinformation in a polarized society. A research from Carmen Beatriz Fernández, Jordi Rodriguez-Virgili and Javier Serrano-Puche, from the University of Navarra (Spain)

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DIGITAL DISINFORMATION IN
VENEZUELA
Carmen Beatriz Fernández
Jordi Rodríguez Virgili
Javier Serrano Puche

2. Research
Questions
RQ1: In a polarized society like that of
Venezuela, are there notable differences
between the ways of informing
themselves among pro-government and
pro-opposition supporters?
RQ2: What are the types of digital
disinformation that Venezuelans are most
concerned about?
RQ3: Is it possible to notice a different
sensitivity to the different forms of digital
or online disinformation based on the
political self-definition of Venezuelans,
their age, their gender or their
educational level?

3. Methodology
In order to carry out this investigation, 1216
telephone interviews were conducted through
cell phones in Venezuela.
Field work: The survey firm More Consulting
carried out the field work, which took place
between January 20th and 29th of 2020.
The demographic of the study consists of people
older than 18 years registered in the national
electoral registry.
Sampling: random selection of municipalities
previously classified according to different strata
(cities of large, medium, and small size, rural and
urban, with various levels of poverty). In these
municipalities, a selection was made of both the
telephone samples and interviewees by
dynamization of quotas (by region, sex, and
age).
Statistic Error: The sampling error is 2.81%,
with a confidence level of 95%.
The questionnaire included questions taken from
DNR related to interest in politics, news
consumption, trust in the media, and concern
about disinformation, among other issues.

4. Main
informa*on
sources
TV 48.7% DIGITAL MEDIA
34%
RADIO 7.2%
PRESS 2% CASUAL CHATS
5.1%
79% Internet access
67% using social networks
but…

5. PREGUNTA: From those sources that you mentiones… which did you use last
week? Which one would you say that is your MAIN source of news?
51.4%
NO
ALINEADOS
26.3% 39.4%
MAIN SOURCE OF NEWS
LAST WEEK
BASE 1216
14.7% 39.0% 22.3%
13.8% 6.5% 10.0%
3.4% 12.7% 7.1%
7.0% 7.9% 6.7%
4.9% 1.9% 7.5%
2.8% 0.8% 2.3%
0.3% 0.0% 0.6%
0.3% 0.0% 0.6%
1.5% 2.7% 2.1%
0.0% 0.5% 0.2%
ESTUDIO DE OPINIÓN: “CONSUMO DE INTERNET EN VENEZUELA” DEL 20 DE ENERO AL 29 DE ENERO DE 2020.
Television news bulletins
24 hour news TV channels
Radio news programs
Printed newspapers
Websites/apps of newspapers
Websites/apps of magazines
Social media
Blogs
Chats with family/friends
None of these

6. 59,5 %

7. Stark difference between the positions of the respondents depending on ideological affilia-tion, with 69.4% of the
“Chavistas” category agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement. While only 57.4% of “Oppositores” and
55.6% of “Not Aligned” participants agreeing with the statement.
NEWS
LEVEL OF AGREEMEN WITH STATEMENTS
BASE 1216
NO
ALINEADOS
ESTUDIO DE OPINIÓN: “CONSUMO DE INTERNET EN VENEZUELA” DEL 20 DE ENERO AL 29 DE ENERO DE 2020.
54.7% 69.4% 55.6%
24.8% 10.6% 20.6%
2.4% 1.9% 4.2%
“Regarding online news, I am concerned about what is true and
what is false on the Internet”
18.0% 18.2% 19.6%
Totally disagree
Partially disagree
No agree, nor
disagree
Partially agree
Totally agree
NR/DK

8. 7.2%
5.6%
5.9%
21.4%
29.4%
30.6%
NS/NC
Las acciones de ciudadanos comunes
Las acciones de grupos de activistas
Las acciones de agentes extranjeros o
injerencia internacional
Las acciones de políticos o partidos
políticos
Las acciones de periodistas o de
medios de comunicación
PREGUNTA: ¿Y cuál de los siguientes agentes de desinformación le parece a
Ud más preocupante? En otras palabras ¿en cuál de los siguientes actores
sería más grave el uso de fakenews?
BASE 1216
NO
ALINEADOS
19.6%
31.2%
41.7%
12.5%
26.7%
21.5%
35.5% 27.6% 29.6%
4.6%
4.3%
6.0%
6.0%
6.7%
6.2%
4.9% 6.2% 9.2%
“FAKENEWS”
“Which of the following disinformation agents do you find most worrying?
ESTUDIO DE OPINIÓN: “CONSUMO DE INTERNET EN VENEZUELA” DEL 20 DE ENERO AL 29 DE ENERO DE 2020.
Actions from journalists or the
media
Actions from politicians or
political parties
Actions from foreign agents or
international interference
Actions from groups of activists
Actions from ordinary citizens
NR/DK

9. 29,4% 5,9% 30,6% 5,6% 21,4%
A DIFFERENT PATTERN WHEN COMPARING WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD
VENEZUELA VS EL MUNDO
More people is concerned about fakenews coming from politicians than any other
agent of disinformation, but in Venezuela is different.
WORLD AVERAGE VS VENEZUELAN FIGURES
POLITICIANS ACTIVISTS JOURNALISTS NORMIES FOREIGN AGENTS

10. DIGITAL DISINFORMATION MODEL
Disinformation f(d) = a (educational level) + b (main source of info)

11. Carmen Beatriz Fernández
@carmenbeat