Sources Of Information Or Disinformation?

Abstract

Nowadays, the Internet provides such a wide range of information that it is necessary to address issues of the quality and credibility of the information, as well as the ability of an individual to assess and evaluate its content. Deliberate publication of misleading, out-of-context, or outright false information is becoming an increasingly pressing problem in society. Disinformation present among the population represents an obstacle to implementing constructive solutions to existing problems. The aim of this paper is to create an estimate of the current state, to highlight the importance of the influence of the Internet and social networks on a selected sample of the population, specifically Internet users who claim that the Internet and social networks are their main source of information. The findings in this paper are based on a questionnaire survey carried out in 2023 at the Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava, on a sample of 298 respondents, mostly members of police or security forces.