Disinformation ranks above terrorism as global threat

illustration: DALL-E

The concern runs especially deep in European democracies. In seven countries - including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the UK, the United States and South Korea - disinformation tops the list of fears.

Nowhere is that fear more pronounced than in Poland. As Pew Research Center reports in “International Opinion on Global Threats”, 85% of Polish respondents said false information posed a serious risk to their country. That’s 25 percentage points higher than concerns over disease outbreaks (60%) and even above fears of terrorism (59%).

Top Three Threats in Poland	Percentage of Respondents
Disinformation	85%
Infectious diseases	60%
Terrorism	59%

The report notes a dramatic shift in Polish public opinion since 2022, when only 65% identified disinformation as a serious threat. That’s a 20-point jump in just three years. While Pew changed its data collection method - moving from in-person interviews to phone surveys - the steep rise remains noteworthy. Professor Dariusz Jemielniak from Kozminski University, who also serves as Vice President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, emphasized in a statement to PAP that “even if methodology changed, the scale of the increase is hard to ignore.”

Across the border in Germany, disinformation also surpassed all other dangers, with economic instability and climate change trailing behind. According to Pew Research Center, respondents in Germany mirrored the Polish pattern, treating online falsehoods as a more urgent concern than conventional security threats.

A global threat with local variations

Globally, the ranking of threats reveals more than just fear - it reflects the complex realities people face in different corners of the world. Pew researchers grouped respondents’ answers into five major categories, ranking them by the median percentage of concern.

• Disinformation: 72%
• Global economic conditions: 70%
• Terrorism: 69%
• Climate change: 67%
• Infectious diseases: 60%

While disinformation leads overall, the second most common fear - global economic instability - stood out in countries like Greece and Australia. According to the report, these concerns align closely with citizens’ pessimism about their national economies. In fact, people from countries with lower economic confidence were far more likely to rate global markets as a serious threat.

Respondents in India, Israel, Nigeria and Turkey expressed the most concern over terrorism. These countries, classified as middle-income, consistently show higher anxiety about violent threats than wealthier nations. The Pew Research Center study points out that older citizens, right-leaning individuals, and supporters of populist parties are especially likely to name terrorism as a top concern.

Disinformation and AI. A dangerous combination

One reason for the rising fear of disinformation may lie in its evolving form. The Global Risks Report 2025, published by the World Economic Forum, ranks false information as the top short-term global risk for the second year in a row. Professor Jemielniak, referencing this WEF report, warns that the use of synthetic media and AI-generated content makes manipulation easier and faster than ever.


Disinformation campaigns now use deepfake videos, fake news sites, and AI chatbots to target voters, incite violence, and spread conspiracy theories. At the same time, efforts to fight these campaigns are weakening. Jemielniak notes that his research team has seen a steady decline in counter-disinformation programs, while the volume of manipulated content continues to grow.

This growing imbalance explains why some experts now treat disinformation not just as a digital nuisance, but as a national security issue.

Climate change and pandemics. Falling behind in fear

In contrast to the rising alarm about online falsehoods, concern over infectious diseases has dropped in many developed nations. In nine wealthy countries surveyed since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of people who view pandemics as a major threat fell from 74% in 2020 to 50% in 2025.

People in Argentina, Brazil and South Africa remain more worried about health threats. According to Pew Research Center, middle-income nations generally report higher concern about infectious diseases than rich countries. This difference likely reflects both healthcare access and recent experiences with major outbreaks.

Climate change, though not ranked as the top threat by any of the 25 countries surveyed, still remains a significant concern. In nations like France, the UK, Mexico and Kenya, fear of environmental collapse has increased since the last comparable survey in 2013. Pew’s researchers note that people on the political left are more likely to worry about climate change, while those on the right are less likely to rank it highly.

Countries With Rising Climate Anxiety	Notable Increase Since 2013
France	Yes
Turkey	Yes
Mexico	Yes
UK	Yes
Kenya	Yes
Nigeria	Yes
Israel	Yes
Australia	Yes
USA	Yes
Germany	Yes

Public attitudes toward environmental threats, much like those toward terrorism or disinformation, reveal sharp divides along ideological and national lines. In the global conversation, the same event - a heatwave, a riot, a fake video - can generate entirely different reactions depending on the local context.

The International Opinion on Global Threats report paints a picture of a world where truth itself has become a battlefield. While bombs, viruses and rising seas still haunt the public mind, it’s falsehoods - spreading at the speed of light - that now seem to cast the longest shadow. Full data is available here.