One in five Australians use social media as their main source of news in 2023, up from 17% in 2022, data from ACMA's ‘How we access news’ report has shown.
In 2023, 46% of 18–24-year-olds nominated social media as their main source of news, up from 28% in 2022. 31% of this cohort cited celebrities and social media influencers as sources of their news content.
Australians used on average 3.1 different sources of news (e.g., free-to-air TV, podcasts, news websites) in 2023, down from 3.5 in 2022, with free-to-air television remaining the most common main source of news, reported by 26% of respondents, the same figure as in 2022.
This was followed by 23% who used online news websites or apps as their primary source in 2023.
Social media was the only news source to see an increase in people choosing it as their main way of accessing news.
For older Australians, more than half aged 75 and over (52%) reported reading a print newspaper in the previous week, compared to 7% of 18–24-year-olds.
The reports have been published as part of the ACMA’s Communications and media in Australia series which features a range of data snapshots looking at topics such as internet usage, broadcast and streaming consumption, mobile phone use and digital platforms.
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