News trust weakens as Southeast Asians lean further into platforms 

MANILA | 19 JUNE 2026

Trust in news weakened across most of Southeast Asia this year as audiences in the region were more likely than their global peers to rely on social media, video networks, messaging apps and content creators for news. 

The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, released in mid-June, also shows a region grappling with persistent misinformation concerns, waning interest in news and reluctance to pay for online content. 

Now in its 15th year, the report draws on a YouGov online survey of more than 97,000 adults across 48 markets, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Four of the five Southeast Asian markets covered by the report — the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia — were among the 19 markets worldwide that registered significant drops in trust in news this year. Globally, public confidence in “most news most of the time” slid to 37%, the lowest level since the report began tracking the indicator in 2015. 

The Philippines posted the steepest decline of all 48 markets, with trust dropping 10 points to 28%. Thailand slipped eight points to 47%, Malaysia seven points to 30% and Indonesia four points to 32%. Singapore bucked the regional trend, holding steady at 46%. 

WHAT UNDERMINES TRUST?

The report defines its trust metric by asking whether respondents trust “most news most of the time.” This serves as a broad indicator of confidence in the media landscape rather than a grade for individual outlets.

The report noted that trust is influenced not just by editorial performance but also by external pressures such as political instability, divisive elections, attacks on journalists and a fragmented information environment.

That broader context is evident in Southeast Asia. 

The Philippines has navigated political polarization, disinformation, red-tagging (labelling of individuals as communists or terrorists), lawfare, online harassment, media criticism and killings of journalists. Thailand faced political flux and border-conflict disinformation. Malaysia continues to balance hopes for more independent media oversight with concerns over regulation, online safety laws and pressure on journalists. Indonesia’s media environment remains heavily shaped by political and business interests, as well as regulatory pressures on critical reporting. 

However, trust in specific brands often outpaced trust in the news industry at large. 

In Thailand and Singapore, the percentage of trust in most measured news brands was in the 60s and 70s. In Malaysia, most selected brands were in the 50s and 60s. The Philippines and Indonesia had a wider spread, with several brands in the 40s but leading outlets still reaching percentages in the high 50s to mid-60s. This suggests that the decline in overall trust should not be viewed as a blanket rejection of every major news outlet. 

AUDIENCES SPLIT ON IMPARTIALITY

The trust story is also linked to what audiences want from news. Across all markets, 45% said they preferred getting news from sources that do not have a particular point of view, more than double the 22% who preferred sources that share their point of view. Another 15% preferred sources that challenge their point of view.

Southeast Asia showed a more divided picture. Singapore was the closest to the global pattern: 38% preferred sources without a particular point of view, compared with 19% who wanted sources that shared their views and 19% who preferred sources that challenged them. In the Philippines, by contrast, only 23% preferred sources without a particular point of view, while 30% wanted sources that shared their views and another 30% preferred sources that challenged them.

Indonesia stood out for preference-aligned news. Forty-four percent said they preferred sources that shared their point of view, compared with 29% who preferred sources without a particular point of view and 11% who wanted sources that challenged their views. Malaysia was more evenly split, with 30% preferring sources that shared their views, 27% preferring sources without a particular point of view and 21% preferring sources that challenged them.

Thailand showed the strongest appetite for challenging views among the five markets. Thirty-four percent said they preferred sources that challenged their point of view, compared with 28% who wanted sources that shared their views and 20% who preferred sources without a particular point of view.

SOCIAL MEDIA, VIDEO NETWORKS AS PRIMARY NEWS HUBS

The decline in trust coincided with a shift in how Southeast Asians consumed information, with news habits becoming more platform-centric than global averages.

For the first time globally, social media and video networks overtook television and dedicated news websites as sources of news. The report found that 54% of global respondents used social media and video networks for news in the past week, narrowly ahead of TV at 52% and news sites and apps at 51%.

This trend was especially pronounced across Southeast Asia. Thailand had the highest figure in the region, with 78% using social media and video networks for news, followed by the Philippines (70%), Malaysia (69%), Indonesia (64%) and Singapore (59%).

Traditional media use was comparatively weaker in the region. TV viewership stayed below the 52% global benchmark in all five markets, ranging from 36% in Malaysia and 40% in Singapore to 42% in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Dedicated news websites and apps faced similar headwinds, with the notable exception of Singapore where 62% used them in the past week, 11 points above the global average. In Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, use of news sites and apps ranged only from 41% to 42%.

The gap between platform-driven news and traditional sources was striking. In Thailand, social media and video networks outpaced TV and news websites and apps by 36 points. In the Philippines, the gap reached 28 points over both TV and news websites and apps. Singapore remained the only regional outlier where news websites and apps (62%) still slightly edged out social media and video networks (59%).

This shift accelerated over the past year. Social media and video network use for news expanded across all five Southeast Asian markets, with Indonesia recording the biggest gain — a seven-point jump to 64%. Meanwhile, use of both TV news and dedicated news sites declined in every surveyed market. The Philippines experienced the sharpest retreat for news sites, sliding eight points to 42%.

The multiyear data point to a structural change in consumption. Since measurements began, audiences’ use of news websites and apps has seen steep declines, including a 26-point drop in Indonesia and a 24-point fall in Malaysia. Television news has faced similar erosion, weakening 24 points in the Philippines and 18 points in Malaysia, while print has suffered large losses, plunging 36 points in Singapore and 31 points in Malaysia.

FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP, YOUTUBE, TIKTOK FOR NEWS

This pattern of platform-centric consumption extended to how audiences navigated the digital news landscape.

Social media and video networks served as the primary gateways to online news across all five markets, with every country exceeding the global average of 47%. Thailand had the highest figure, with 73% saying they came across news that way in the past week. Indonesia and the Philippines followed at 65%, Malaysia at 63% and Singapore at 55%. 

Search engines remained a significant access point but consistently ranked below social media and video networks in the region. Search usage stood at 49% in Thailand and 47% in Indonesia, with the Philippines (45%), Malaysia (44%) and Singapore (44%) in line with the global average. 

Direct access to news websites or apps was notably weak in the Philippines and Thailand, both at 25%, falling well short of the 33% global average. Singapore was the regional exception, with 41% accessing news directly.

Platform preferences varied by country. Facebook remained the top news platform in the Philippines, where 72% used it for news, and Thailand, where 69% did. In contrast, WhatsApp was the dominant platform for news in Indonesia (56%), Malaysia (50%) and Singapore (40%).

Video-centric platforms also gained significant traction. YouTube use for news exceeded the 34% global average in all five Southeast Asian markets, reaching 54% in Thailand, followed by the Philippines at 48% and Indonesia at 47%.

The rise of TikTok was even more striking: Thailand posted the highest proportion at 55%, followed by Malaysia (45%), Indonesia (43%) and the Philippines (33%) — all well above the 20% global figure.

CREATORS BECOME PART OF THE NEWS DIET

The shift toward platform-led news is not just changing where audiences find their information, but who they look to for it.

Creators and influencers have emerged as a significant layer in the region’s news ecosystem. At the global level, 46% of respondents reported accessing news from a creator or influencer in the past week, with 27% specifically citing creators who focus on news and current affairs.

Several Southeast Asian markets exceeded the global average for engagement with news-focused creators.Thailand had the highest figure at 47%, followed by Indonesia (38%), the Philippines (36%) and Malaysia (32%). While Singapore was below the regional pack at 22%, it remained ahead of several European markets.

The report noted limits to the role of creators. Only 13% of global respondents said news-focused creators met most or all of their information needs. Regional figures suggest creators played a more substantial role in several Southeast Asian markets. Thailand (26%), the Philippines (18%), Indonesia (17%) and Malaysia (15%) all surpassed the global average. But these figures show that creators have not yet displaced traditional news organisations as the primary source for most users.

The appeal of creators rests on style, relatability and accessibility rather than a clear trust advantage. In the Philippines, for example, audiences praised creators for being entertaining, relatable, easy to understand and up-to-date compared with traditional news brands. But trust was divided: 22% said creators were more trustworthy and 21% said they were less trustworthy. On impartiality, more respondents said creators were less impartial than traditional news brands.

AI ADOPTION REMAINS NICHE

AI chatbots are now embedded in the broader digital news landscape, yet their role as a primary source of information remains limited.

Across all markets surveyed, 10% used AI chatbots for news in the past week. Southeast Asian markets hovered near that global figure, with Indonesia reporting the highest use at 12%, followed by Malaysia and Singapore at 11% each, the Philippines at 9% and Thailand at 8%.

Usage rose from 2025 levels in four of the five markets. Singapore recorded the biggest increase, from 7% to 11%, followed by Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The Philippines was the exception, holding steady at 9%.

Data from the Philippines suggest that audiences are using AI chatbots for practical, utility-based tasks rather than as a primary news destination. Among weekly generative AI news users, 52% asked for summaries, 48% posed follow-up questions, 43% sought the latest news, 39% asked AI to find or assess a source and 36% used it to simplify stories.

Trust in news delivered through AI chatbots remained below trust in news overall, but the pattern varied across the region. Only 20% of global respondents said they trusted answers from AI chatbots, compared with 37% who said they trusted news in general. Indonesia and Thailand were above the global AI-trust figure, at 22% and 31%. Malaysia and Singapore were slightly below it, both at 18%. The Philippines had the lowest trust among the five, at 15%. 

MISINFORMATION WORRIES STAY HIGH

The rapid shift toward platforms, creators and AI coincided with persistent anxiety about the quality of information.

Unease about misinformation remained elevated across the region, with every Southeast Asian market at or above the global average of 62%.

Singapore registered the highest level of concern at 73%, followed by the Philippines (66%), Indonesia (64%), and Malaysia and Thailand (63%).

This concern intensified most sharply in Indonesia, where the figure rose eight points from 56% in 2025 to 64% in 2026. The Philippines remained near its record high, while Thailand eased slightly from 65% to 63%.

INTEREST IN NEWS DECLINES

Amid the heightened anxiety over misinformation, interest in news remained notably lower in Southeast Asia than the global average.

While 46% of respondents globally expressed a strong interest in current affairs, none of the five Southeast Asian markets surveyed met that benchmark. Indonesia and the Philippines reported the highest levels of interest at 43%, followed by Thailand (40%), Singapore (34%) and Malaysia (32%).

The annual trend was mostly negative. The Philippines posted the biggest fall, from 49% in 2025 to 43% in 2026. Thailand fell three points, while Malaysia and Singapore each dropped two. Indonesia was the sole outlier, with interest inching up slightly to 43%.

The erosion of interest is even more stark when viewed over the long term. The Philippines dropped from 69% in 2020 to 43% in 2026. Indonesia slid from 68% in 2021 to 43%, Thailand from 60% to 40%, Singapore from 50% in 2017 to 34% and Malaysia from 45% in 2017 to 32%.

NEWS AVOIDANCE RISES IN SOME COUNTRIES

Lower interest in news was also accompanied by an uptick in news avoidance, a trend particularly strong in the Philippines.

Across all markets, 42% of respondents reported avoiding the news often or sometimes, reflecting a two-point increase since 2025. The Philippines stood out in the region: At 51%, it was the only Southeast Asian market where a majority of the population actively avoided the news—nine points higher than the global average.

Thailand also recorded avoidance levels above the global average at 43%, while Malaysia (39%) and Indonesia (37%) remain close to the benchmark. Singapore presented a notable contrast, with only 26% reporting news avoidance.

These figures were reflected in the share of respondents who said they “never” avoided the news: just 15% in the Philippines compared with 39% in Singapore. 

The long-term trajectory confirms a steady retreat from the news cycle. Across all surveyed markets, the share of people who sometimes or often avoid news has risen from 29% in 2017 to 42% in 2026. This upward trend is evident in several Southeast Asian markets, with avoidance in the Philippines rising from 47% in 2022 to 51% this year, and Indonesia increasing from 35% to 37% over a similar period. Thailand, however, declined from 46% to 43%, while Malaysia returned to its 2017 level of 39%. 

NEWS PARTICIPATION PERSISTS

Yet declining interest and rising avoidance do not mean audiences have disengaged from the news entirely.

News participation remained relatively active in Southeast Asia, though not uniformly. Reading comments was the most common form of engagement, exceeding the 42% global average across all five Southeast Asian markets. Indonesia led in this regard (53%), followed closely by the Philippines (52%), Malaysia (49%), Thailand (45%) and Singapore (44%).

Sharing news was also more common in most of the region than globally. Malaysia had the highest share at 42%, followed by the Philippines at 40%, Thailand at 37%, Singapore at 33% and Indonesia at 32%. All five exceeded the 31% global average.

Commenting on news — while less frequent than reading or sharing — also remained comparatively robust. Thailand was highest at 35%, followed by the Philippines (29%), Indonesia (25%) and Malaysia (24%). Singapore fell below the global figure, at 16%.

But the long-term trend reveals a cooling of participatory habits. Since the first measurements were taken, the propensity to share news has declined in every surveyed Southeast Asian market. Malaysia fell from 52% in 2017 to 42% in 2026 and Singapore from 45% to 33% over the same period. The Philippines declined from 51% in 2020 to 40%, Thailand from 47% in 2021 to 37% and Indonesia from 40% in 2021 to 32%. 

PAYING FOR ONLINE NEWS REMAINS LIMITED

High levels of digital engagement have yet to translate into widespread financial support for journalism. Globally, 17% of respondents reported paying for online news in 2026. 

Payment rates in Southeast Asia closely matched the global level, with Malaysia slightly above at 18%, Indonesia and Singapore at 17%, and the Philippines lower at 13%. No figure was available for Thailand.

Compared with 2025, payment was flat or slightly down in most of the available Southeast Asian markets. Paying for online news declined from 15% to 13% in the Philippines but was relatively steady in Indonesia (17%), Malaysia (18%) and Singapore (17%). 

Long-term data offer little evidence of growth. Globally, paying for online news rose from 10% in 2014 to 17% in 2026 but has plateaued since 2021. 

In Southeast Asia, payment rates have largely trended downward or flatlined since their first measurements. The Philippines has experienced the biggest long-term retreat, with payment dropping six points since 2020. Indonesia and Malaysia have each declined two points since their first measurements, indicating that despite the transition to digital platforms, building sustainable subscription models remains a challenge for regional news publishers.

(*Yvonne T Chua is a professorial lecturer of journalism at the University of the Philippines. She has been writing the profile on the Philippines for the Digital News Report since 2020.)

(END/Reporting ASEAN/Edited by J Son)