Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has published a study on the publication of fake news on the internet in two EU member states: France and Italy.

Concerning France, it relied on a list of “not trustworthy” sites drawn up by Le Monde and excluded Voltairenet.Org from it.

Published in about 12 languages, in just 15 years Voltairenet.org has established itself as a source of analysis that is recognized by many Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence, which they then republishes in articles published on Voltairenet in their press review.
The Reuters Institute study shows that many articles are read much more on Facebook than on the internet sites that published them.

However the study does not go much further. In actual fact, you cannot compare the influence of commercial internet sites and non-commercial sites (the latter being sites which are open to the public and without advertising). Some sites take up all sorts of issues, while others focus on only one specific issue; some oblige the readers to visit their websites to read their articles while others, in contrast, encourage their articles to be republished on new platforms, etc.

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa

Measuring the reach of fake news and online distribution in Europe, Reuters Institute, February 2018.
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