Less than one in five people who get their news from social media always check whether it is true.



A poll of 2,000 people found four in 10 now get their news from social media - but 56 per cent have believed something which later turned out to be false.



Overall, one in five (21 per cent) believe social platforms are always or often trustworthy, with nearly half (47 per cent) of these convinced by the inclusion of pictures and video from the event being reported on.



With news about energy bills never far from the headlines, documentary maker Ross Kemp has teamed up with Smart Energy GB [https://www.smartenergygb.org/] to help households answer some of the most common questions about smart meters.



This comes as 32 per cent have seen a story about the devices in the media within the last year, but half of them didn’t follow it up with further research.



Ross Kemp said: “With so much news and information available online and on social media, it’s more important than ever for people to know how to separate fact from fiction.