‘Killer of trust’: social media groups fuel misinformation in UK, report finds
A Guardian investigation says local social media groups spread misinformation far more in UK areas with weak local news.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
A Social Market Foundation study finds misinformation is concentrated in places where local journalism has faded, especially on Facebook, X and Nextdoor. The report says the gap is being filled by unreliable online groups that can shape local politics and public trust.
The report says that when a town loses its local newspaper, false stories can spread more easily in online groups, like weeds growing where the grass is thin. That can confuse people about elections, councils and neighbors.
Analysis
What the report found
A Social Market Foundation investigation, based on more than 125,000 posts across local Facebook groups, X searches and Nextdoor communities, says misinformation is much more common in places with little or no recognised local journalism. The Guardian says the study found misinformation was nearly three times more common in those areas, and that more than 4.4 million people in the UK now live in a “news desert” without a dedicated local news provider.
The report links the problem to the decline of local news outlets. In that gap, online groups are becoming the main source of local information for many people, even though they are often run by administrators with no journalistic training and sometimes with clear political leanings. The authors describe these groups as a major threat to trust.
What kind of misinformation spread
The study says immigration and Islamophobia were the most common themes. It also found misleading or fake claims about councils, transport, planning decisions and elections. Examples included a false claim about Birmingham council meetings, a fake expansion of London’s congestion charge, and manipulated political posts during the Gorton and Denton byelection in south-east Manchester.
The numbers were highest in the run-up to local elections: misinformation as a share of news posts rose from 8.2% earlier in the year to 12.9% before polling day. The report also says two in five local Facebook groups and more than four in five X searches showed at least one piece of misinformation in their most recent 1,000 posts.
Political reaction
Labour MP Chi Onwurah called the findings deeply concerning and urged stronger rules in the online safety regime. The government said it recognises the risks but wants to focus on the most prevalent and serious harms. Meta and Nextdoor said they have misinformation policies; X did not respond.
Key points
- A SMF study says misinformation is nearly three times more common where local journalism is weak or missing.
- More than 4.4 million people in the UK live in news deserts with no dedicated local news provider.
- The most common misinformation topics were immigration and Islamophobia, with spikes around local elections.
- The report found fake or misleading posts about councils, transport, planning and local political races.
- MPs and media leaders are calling for stronger action from government and platforms.
If local news outlets are supported, the report suggests they can act as a strong check on false claims and help people trust what they read. Stronger platform rules and more transparent moderation could also reduce the spread of misleading posts in local groups.
If nothing changes, the report warns that misinformation could keep shaping how people vote, what they believe about their neighbors and how much they trust public institutions. Areas without local journalism may become even easier targets for fake or manipulated political content.
