A survey of 1,502 Australians show the majority trust traditional media over social media, with the ABC the most trusted, according to a new DemosAU poll.
The ABC was the most trusted media source (60%), compared to newspapers and news websites (59%), commercial TV and radio (58%), and social media accounts/influencers they follow (26%).
Aussies were asked whether they usually trust, sometimes trust, rarely trust or never trust the four types of media.
27% said they ‘usually’ trust the ABC compared to newspapers/websites (15%), commercial tv and radio (14%) and social media (5%).
A large proportion (58%) said they rarely or never trust social media accounts they follow including on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok.
However, trust in social media was much higher among young people aged 18-34, (40%) compared to 32% aged 35-54 and only 12% for people aged 55+.
Trust in traditional media outlets and the ABC was higher in inner metropolitan areas compared to regional areas. Trust was also higher amongst those on higher incomes.
DemosAU Head of Research George Hasanakos said the findings correlated with other DemosAU trust research.
“We’ve seen this with our research on trust in institutions and democracy that the better off you are the more likely you are to trust the institutions around you and this extends to trust in media,” Mr Hasanakos said.
“What I think is surprising is that on the issue of trust we do see Aussies report much higher levels of trust in traditional media, both commercial and non-commercial, than social media.
“This is a recognition that traditional media generally have a good standing in the community and overall they are respected.
“On the other hand, Aussies are more sceptical about what they see online and that could be due to the sheer amount of online content but also distrust of AI and ‘influencers’.
“However, it’s important to note that while these results reflect the brand image of influencers in general, it did not look at the perceptions of individual influencers, some of whom may have higher levels of trust than the average.”
About the poll
This poll of 1,502 respondents was carried out between 15 May and 20 May 2026. The effective margin of error is +/- 3.6%.
Access the full report Trustwatch, Trust in Media, June 2026 here.
