GALLUP SURVEY: OVER 60% OF THE BULGARIANS HAVE COME ACROSS FAKE NEWS

One in four Bulgarians aged 18 or over witnessed aggression between children or teenagers in the recent 12 months, i.e. about 1.4 million Bulgarians have seen quarrels, fights and bullying among children and teenagers in the past year, the results of an independent flash telephone survey conducted by Gallup International polling agency.

The figure confirms a worrying trend of aggression among children and teenagers, sociologists say.

The poll found that 61.1% of the respondents (nearly 3.3 million people) came across fake news in the past 12 months.

The survey looked into attitudes towards topical concerns of the last few weeks and months in the context of real issues as opposed to media hype.

The real issues identified by the respondents include road surfaces, tunnels and bridges, which may cause serious road accidents (88.3 % say this is a real problem, 9.8 % say the topic is surrounded by media hype, and the rest don't know), the national programme for improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings (52.6% see it as a real problem, while 38.6% say it is media hype), the topic of money for science (44.2% see as a real problem and 37.8% as a media hype), fingerprints identification at hospitals (49.1% to 44%).

President Roumen Radev's flight to Brussels by a military aircraft is seen as a real problem by 27.1% of the respondents, while 63.6% say it is a media hype.

Asked about the National Programme for Energy Efficiency for Multi-family Residential Buildings, 90.2% of the respondents said they had heard of it. 51.8% of them believe this is how blocks of flats should be renovated, while 39.9% opt for the answer that "cladding and renovation programme is major theft". The sociologists concluded that the high percentage of divided opinions show obvious public concern.

49.5% of those who know about the renovation and cladding programme say it is unfair, while 30.8 % have the opposite opinion. The renovation and cladding of residential buildings is considered a good project in principle, but the details trigger dissatisfaction which comes from the fact that only a small proportion of the Bulgarian households can benefit from it, sociologists think. Suspicions of corruption, which are widespread in Bulgarians public opnion, also influence the public's opinion, Gallup commented.

source: BTA