OSCE Media Literacy Survey: Montenegrin citizens confident they can spot propaganda, but fewer verify information

Almost 80 per cent of Montenegrin citizens aged 16 to 75 believe they can recognise propaganda and bias in the news, but fewer than half regularly check the source of information. At the same time, 40 per cent say they have shared information that later turned out to be false or misleading.

These are among the key findings of the public opinion survey “Media Literacy in Montenegro”, conducted by IPSOS for the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU). Conducted from 26 May to 17 June, the survey covered a representative sample of 1,013 citizens aged 16 to 75 through online and telephone interviews, and included six focus groups.

Presenting the findings, Vladimir Raičević of IPSOS highlighted a gap between citizens’ confidence in their ability to recognise manipulation and their actual information-checking habits.

“Compared to 2023, citizens’ confidence in their ability to recognise propaganda has remained at around 80 per cent, while regular information checking has fallen from 53 to 48 per cent,” Raičević said. He described this as one of the survey’s key paradoxes: while confidence in recognising manipulation remains high, the habits that can help protect people from disinformation are weakening.

Almost all respondents said they had encountered content they considered false, biased, sensationalist or designed to attract attention. The survey also points to significant changes in media consumption. Forty per cent of the population spends four or more hours a day online, while the same proportion of young people spends six or more hours online each day. 

Instagram and Facebook remain the most widely used social media platforms, each reaching 66 per cent of the population. TikTok has recorded the fastest growth, rising from 18 per cent of users three years ago to almost 35 per cent today. Meanwhile, 42 per cent of social media users spend two or more hours a day on these platforms, up from 35 per cent in 2023.

Television remains the most common daily source of information, used by 61 per cent of citizens, followed by social media at 54 per cent. Online media and personal contacts come next, while newspaper use continues to decline. Among young people, social media are a more important source of news than television, while the opposite is true among those aged 60 to 75.

Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Ambassador Jan Haukaas, highlighted the need for a more targeted approach to media literacy. “This year is special because it marks 20 years of our partnership with Montenegro. Media literacy has grown in importance and become an increasingly important part of our work together.” He further stressed that media literacy goes beyond education. It helps citizens navigate an increasingly complex information environment and strengthening societal resilience.

Haukaas identified three priorities emerging from the survey: tailoring media literacy education to different age groups; integrating media literacy across formal education and existing curricula; and helping citizens understand how algorithms shape the information they see and how to identify and assess content generated by artificial intelligence.

Director of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services Sunčica Bakić highlighted how technological change is transforming not only the devices people use, but also how they learn about events, decide whom to trust and form opinions.

“We used to talk about media content that people actively chose. Today, we increasingly talk about content that chooses us,” Bakić said, pointing to the role of algorithms and personalised content. She also highlighted the growing difficulty of distinguishing authentic content from artificially generated material. “Text, a photograph, a voice or a video are no longer, in themselves, proof that something actually happened,” she said.

Bakić noted that the Agency and the OSCE Mission have built a long-term partnership on media literacy encompassing research, education and institutional development.