Has the UK lost trust in the internet?

It’s been 35 years since Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, and his gift to the world has changed it immeasurably.

In many respects, it’s been a force for good. You wouldn’t be reading this blog without the internet.

Decentralised digital communications gave everyone a democratic voice and a greater sense of societal involvement.

Concepts like home grocery deliveries, digital banking and working from home would never have risen to prominence without broadband services, web browsers and wireless routers.

However, the internet is also becoming increasingly hostile, from culture wars, cybercrime and cancel culture to the proliferation of fake news, AI slop and toxic influencers.

In truth, most of these ills are propagated using social media, which is very distinct from online banking or streaming video services.

Sadly, it appears current geopolitical tensions and the rollout of AI services are having a detrimental effect on our trust in the internet as a whole, not just social media specifically.

Trust in the internet is in decline

Every year, telecommunications industry regulator Ofcom publishes a report known as the Online Nation, which surveys the UK’s digital landscape.

Its 2025 report identified that 95 per cent of UK adults now have home internet access.

On average, people spent ten minutes more per day online in 2025 than in 2024, with women online longer each day than men across all age groups.

Over three quarters of this time was spent on smartphones, and half of it involved services owned by either Alphabet (Google, YouTube) or Meta (Facebook, Instagram).

However, spending more time online isn’t making us any happier. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Ofcom reported that only a third of adults feel the internet is now good for society, while the number of people who think the benefits of being online outweigh the risks is falling rapidly.

One figure going in the opposite direction is the proportion of adults who’ve seen upsetting material online recently – 37 per cent, compared to 31 per cent just a year earlier.

Almost sixty per cent of potential harms were encountered on social media, with Facebook deemed to be the worst offender, followed by Instagram and X.

Children are now commonly able to identify frenetic and nonsensical ‘brain rot’ content (such as Sora and TikTok), while seventy per cent of secondary school pupils have watched harmful content.

Even self-improvement content aimed at children is proving problematic, since 40 per cent of teenage users said it made them feel either obsessive or bad about themselves.

AI slop and the related phenomenon of fake news are triggering a marked loss of public trust in the internet.

Photos have long been manipulated and edited to suit specific agendas, but it’s no longer possible to watch a video and trust its authenticity, either.

Former quality assurance marks like blue ticks are meaningless, and even once-venerated media outlets have published quotes from fictional experts or selectively edited video footage.

Search engines which once acted as gatekeepers to the online world are being compromised by the dominance of AI-generated results, which can be inaccurate or irrelevant.

The vast sums being poured into generative AI aren’t likely to heighten our trust in what we see online, even before the colossal legal battles looming over copyright infringement get into gear.

This sounds alarming. What should I do?

Nobody is suggesting disengaging from the internet entirely.

While five per cent of UK households remain offline, most of us would struggle to imagine a world without home broadband.

The key is to minimise exposure to social media, where most digital harms are lurking, and to never share personal information which could be harnessed by cybercriminals.

Reduce screen time and replace it with more offline activities (reading, exercise, hobbies, clubs and classes), using the internet only when it’s genuinely beneficial.

Everything is better in moderation, from food to Netflix. Reframe being online as an indulgence, rather than a habit to be pandered to with any spare moments.

This will help to optimise your mental health, promote greater engagement with other people, reduce exposure to negative influences and ensure the internet remains a positive element in your life.