Irish people now get more of their news online than anywhere else, according to a new report.

The new Digital News Report 2024 from Coimisiún na Meán finds that one-third of Irish people now get most of their news online.

It marks the first time digital sources have been found to be more popular than television or radio.

Some 33% of people said their main news source was online content excluding social media, compared to 32% in 2023. 

There was also a slight increase in people using social media for news, from 20% to 21%. 

Some 31% of people now get their news on television, compared to 32% last year. 

Meanwhile, more people than ever are now paying for online content.

People aged between 18 and 24 in particular saw a 7% increase in paying for digital news content from 19% to 26%. 

Main source of news by year. Graphic via Coimisiún na Meán

The Digital News report also found rising concerns about fake news online – with the number of people worried up 7% in the last year to 71%. 

Some 37% of people said it is difficult to tell what news is “trustworthy” on social media platform X. 

A further 39% said it was difficult to assess content on TikTok, compared to 19% when using Google Search. 

"When thinking about online news, would Irish
people agree with the statement ‘I am concerned
about what is real and what is fake on the internet’?" response. Graphic via Coimisiún na Meán

Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill told Breakfast Business the level of trustworthiness on social media platforms remains lower than on traditional platforms. 

“As a society and as a nation and in our work as Coimisiún na Meán, we need to tackle [and] make sure that people [can believe] the news they consume," he said. 

News 'avoidance'

The report also found an increase in ‘news avoiders’, with 44% of people “often” avoiding news compared to 34% in 2023. 

Mr Ó Domhnaill said news avoidance began increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic as people became more wary of what they consume. 

News avoidance by year. Graphic via Coimisiún na Meán

According to the Digital News report, 38% of Irish people had seen fake news about Israel and Palestine in the last week of January, while 37% saw misinformation about immigration. 

A further 33% saw misleading news about COVID-19 and 29% saw false information about the war in Ukraine. 

Mr Ó Domhnaill said Coimisiún na Meán is holding online platforms to account more and seeks to enable people to identify misinformation and complain about it. 

“We want to see the platforms taking responsibility for what they do,” he said. 

Some 88% of respondents were either ‘extremely’, ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ interested in news, higher than the UK (82%), US (84%) and European average (85%).