Views towards Scott Morrison’s handling of recent Twitter controversy
Q. Which of the following is closer to your view on the recent controversy over an official Chinese Twitter account sharing a fake image on Twitter showing an Australian soldier threatening to kill a child?
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
| Scott Morrison was right to publicly demand an apology from the Chinese government, even if China retaliates by restricting trade with Australia | 56% | 55% | 57% | 48% | 57% | 62% | 51% | 65% | 41% | 68% | ||
| Scott Morrison should have let the issue be handled through diplomatic channels. At this time of economic uncertainty, the last thing we need is to publicly criticise our biggest trading partner | 44% | 45% | 43% | 52% | 43% | 38% | 49% | 35% | 59% | 32% | ||
| Base (n) | 1,071 | 539 | 532 | 339 | 374 | 358 | 356 | 406 | 102 | 107 | ||
- Over half believe the Prime Minister was correct to demand an apology from the Chinese government regarding the fake Twitter incident (56%), but 44% believe it should have been handled by other diplomatic means.
- Those aged 18-34 (52%), Labor voters (49%) and Greens voters (59%) disagree with publicly criticising China over the incident.
Using social media while watching
Q. Do you use social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) while watching those TV programs or movies?
|
Total |
|
Men |
Women |
|
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
|
| Yes, often |
32% |
29% |
35% |
47% |
26% |
9% |
||
| Yes, sometimes |
29% |
26% |
32% |
31% |
29% |
26% |
||
| No, never |
38% |
44% |
32% |
22% |
45% |
63% |
||
| Don’t know |
* |
* |
1% |
* |
– |
1% |
* excludes those who never download
61% say they often or sometimes use social media while watching downloaded programs and movies.
Those most likely use social media were women (67%) and people aged 18-34 (78%).
Trust in groups to protect privacy
Q. How much trust do you have in the following groups to protect your privacy?
|
A lot of trust |
Some trust |
A little trust |
No trust |
Don’t know |
|
| Your internet service provider |
13% |
37% |
29% |
18% |
3% |
|
7% |
27% |
31% |
32% |
4% |
|
|
4% |
11% |
23% |
57% |
5% |
|
|
3% |
9% |
18% |
55% |
15% |
|
| The Australian government |
9% |
32% |
33% |
22% |
4% |
| The US government |
4% |
19% |
28% |
43% |
7% |
Over half of people have no trust in Facebook (57%) or Twitter (55%) to protect their privacy. Just under half have no trust in the US government to protect their privacy (43%).
Very few people (13% or less) have a ‘lot of trust’ in the organisations listed to protect their privacy.
Just 41% of people have a lot/some trust in the Australian government to protect their privacy.
Those aged 18-24 (42%) and 25-34 (44%) were less likely to have no trust in Facebook. While those aged 35-44 (60%), 45-54 (66%), 55-64 (62%) and 65+ (63%) were more likely to have ‘no trust’.
The same theme was repeated for Twitter, with those aged 18-24 (31%) and 25-34 (45%) being less likely than those aged 35-44 (58%), 45-54 (63%), 55-64 (64%) and 65+ (63%) to have ‘no trust’.
Liberal/National voters were more likely to have a lot/some trust in the Australian government to protect their privacy (54%). Labor (33%) voters were less likely to have a lot/some trust in the Australian Government to protect their privacy.
Use of online media
Q. How often do you use the following online media –
|
Total use at least once a week |
At least daily |
Several times a week |
About once a week |
Less often |
Never |
Can’t say |
|
|
89% |
52% |
27% |
10% |
6% |
5% |
1% |
|
|
67% |
46% |
12% |
9% |
10% |
22% |
* |
|
| Newspaper websites |
57% |
22% |
17% |
18% |
23% |
20% |
1% |
| Other news websites |
55% |
18% |
20% |
17% |
23% |
21% |
1% |
| Blogs |
21% |
5% |
7% |
9% |
23% |
55% |
1% |
| Websites about social and political campaigns |
18% |
3% |
6% |
9% |
25% |
55% |
1% |
|
15% |
6% |
5% |
4% |
13% |
71% |
1% |
52% say they use Google at least daily and 46% use Facebook at least daily.
Google is used more by – aged 18-24 (74% daily), aged 25-34 (63%), Greens voters (65%), income $1,600+ pw (61%).
Facebook is used more by – women (53% daily), aged 18-24 (82%), aged 25-34 (60%), Greens voters (55%).
Newspaper websites are used more by – aged 25-34 (28% daily), Lib/Nat voters (25%), income $1,600+ pw (30%).
Other news websites are used more by – men (42% at least several times a week), aged 25-34 (48%)
Blogs are used more by – aged 25-34 (38% at least once a week), Greens voters (45%), income $1,600+ pw (28%).
Campaign websites are used more by – aged 25-34 (31% at least once a week), Greens voters (40%).
Twitter is used more by – aged 18-24 (24% at least once a week), aged 25-34 (29%), Greens voters (26%).
Importance of online media for news and information
Q. How important are the following online media to you personally for news and information?
|
Total very/quite important |
Very important |
Quiet important |
A little important |
Not important |
Can’t say |
|
|
52% |
24% |
28% |
26% |
19% |
3% |
|
| Newspaper websites |
43% |
17% |
26% |
29% |
24% |
4% |
| Other news websites |
41% |
14% |
27% |
29% |
27% |
4% |
|
28% |
13% |
15% |
23% |
48% |
2% |
|
| Websites about social and political campaigns |
16% |
4% |
12% |
21% |
57% |
6% |
| Blogs |
12% |
3% |
9% |
21% |
62% |
6% |
|
9% |
3% |
6% |
8% |
75% |
8% |
Google is the most important source of news and information (52% very/quite important). Although Facebook tends to be used more frequently, it is not as important as news websites for news and information.
Google is more important to – aged 18-24 (71% very/quite important), aged 25-34 (59%) and incomes over $1,600 pw (57%).
Newspaper websites are more important to – aged 25-34 (54% very/quite important) and incomes over $1,000 pw (51%).
Other news websites are more important to – aged 25-34 (50% very/quite important).
Facebook is more important to – aged 18-24 (51% very/quite important) and aged 25-34 (43%).
Websites about social and political campaigns are more important to – aged 18-24 (23% very/quite important), aged 25-34 (25%) and Greens voters (33%).
Blogs are more important to – aged 18-24 (19% very/quite important), aged 25-34 (21%) and Greens voters (23%).
Twitter is more important to – aged 18-24 (17% very/quite important) and aged 25-34 (20%).
Anxiety about Checking Emails and Social Media
Q. If you can’t check the following every 15 minutes do you get anxious?
|
Total |
Aged 18-24 |
Aged 25-34 |
|
| Text messages |
9% |
18% |
15% |
| Mobile phone calls |
8% |
11% |
16% |
| Social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) |
6% |
8% |
13% |
| Personal e-mail |
7% |
6% |
15% |
| Work email |
8% |
6% |
14% |
| Voice mail |
4% |
– |
11% |
9% say they get anxious if they can’t check their text messages every 15 minutes and 8% get anxious about mobile phone calls and work emails.
18% of those aged 18-24 get anxious about checking text messages every 15 minutes but are less concerned about social media and emails.
More than one in ten people aged 25-34 get anxious about checking each media every 15 minutes – especially mobile phone calls (16%), text messages (15%) and personal emails (15%).
Banning Use of Social Media
Q. The British Prime Minister has suggested that in situations such as the recent riots, people should be banned from using social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Do you agree or disagree.
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | Use frequently | Use sometimes | Use occasionally | Never use | |
| Total agree | 47% | 51% | 51% | 22% | 29% | 52% | 62% | 27% | 55% | 52% | 64% |
| Total disagree | 39% | 38% | 36% | 65% | 59% | 31% | 29% | 62% | 31% | 31% | 25% |
| Strongly agree | 24% | 25% | 26% | 5% | 10% | 28% | 35% | 14% | 16% | 24% | 40% |
| Agree | 23% | 26% | 25% | 17% | 19% | 24% | 27% | 13% | 39% | 28% | 24% |
| Disagree | 24% | 25% | 21% | 34% | 30% | 24% | 20% | 35% | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| Strongly disagree | 15% | 13% | 15% | 31% | 29% | 9% | 9% | 27% | 11% | 10% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 11% | 13% | 13% | 13% | 16% | 9% | 10% | 13% | 16% | 11% |
47% agreed with the suggestion to ban people from using social media in particular situations such as the recent UK riots and 39% disagreed.
Those most likely to disagree were Greens voters (65%) and people aged 18-34 (59%).
Responses were strongly associated with usage. 62% of those who use social media frequently disagreed compared to 31% of those who use sometimes/occasionally and 25% of those who never use.
Use of Social Media
Q. How often do you personally use social media such as Twitter and Facebook?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | |
| Frequently | 34% | 34% | 30% | 48% | 58% | 27% | 18% |
| Sometimes | 17% | 19% | 16% | 22% | 19% | 19% | 11% |
| Occasionally | 18% | 12% | 21% | 14% | 10% | 21% | 22% |
| Never | 30% | 33% | 32% | 15% | 10% | 32% | 49% |
| Don’t know | 1% | 2% | * | 1% | 3% | 1% | – |
34% said they used social media frequently, 17% sometimes and 18% occasionally. 30% said they never used social media.
By age, 58% of 18-34’s said they used it frequently compared to only 18% of over 55’s. 41% of women used it frequently compared to 28% of men. Those on higher incomes were also more likely to use social media frequently – 37% of those earning $1,000+pw compared to 27% of those earning under $1,000pw.
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