Hong Kong conference hears city’s Chinese-language media has most reports on fake news in regional survey
- City topped league table for reports on fake news between 2010 and 2022, Chinese University academic tells media conference
- Hong Kong recorded 1,315 reports on fake news over the period compared with 1,089 for Malaysia and Singapore combined
Hong Kong notched up the highest level of reporting on “fake news” in six jurisdictions in a study carried out by a Chinese University academic, a media conference has heard.
Professor Clement So York-kee told the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Journalism Symposium, held in the financial hub this week, that Hong Kong had 1,315 Chinese-language media reports on fake news between 2010 and 2022.
Malaysia and Singapore between them notched up 1,089 reports on fake news over the same period, mainland China had 1,084, Taiwan recorded 930 and Macau had 94.
“A large amount of news reports show that the region’s press is really concerned about fake news,” So told the forum. “It does not necessarily mean that the region has a lot of fake news – these reports could also be a mix of local and overseas coverage.”
He was speaking as industry leaders across the region gathered to discuss challenges faced by the media.
So’s research also showed that reporting related to fake news in Chinese-language publications across the region started to increase in 2017 and reached a peak of 1,253 in 2018.
