Report: Over A Third Of SEA Uses Social Media As A Source Of News

(MENAFN- PRovoke) Despite significant changes in the social media landscape over the last few weeks with Meta doing away with fact-checking, the move to XiaoHongShu and TikTok getting banned and then reinstated in the US, users continue to grow.

In fact, more than a third of the region currently use social media as a source of news. Additionally, two-thirds (61.5%) of Southeast Asia's population are on social media making up 10.2% of the global share of social media identities.

This is according to the 2025 Digital Report by media intelligence firm Meltwater. It also found that the region loves social media with all nations using more platforms than the global average of 6.83. The average number of platforms used is 8.36 in the Philippines, 8.12 in Malaysia, 7.93 in Indonesia, 7.24 in Singapore 7.24, and 7.11 in both Vietnam and Thailand.

Here is the breakdown:

Singapore

Singaporeans spend an average of 6 hours and 33 minutes a day on the internet - on par with the global average of 6 hours and 38 minutes.

Overall, 71.4% of Singaporean adults are concerned about what is real and fake on the internet, said Meltwater. Further, 36.0% of internet users in Singapore are worried about how companies use their personal data online, and 39.0% of these internet users decline cookies on websites at least some of the time, as compared to the global average of 34.5%.

Singapore has one of the highest overall levels of social media use globally at 88.2%, ranking number four globally. Singaporean users aged 16+ spend 2h 2min on social media daily while internet users actively use about 7.24 platforms each month

Meltwater also noted in its report that Reddit and Telegram are sleeping giants in Singapore - with relatively high usage compared to global users. Active Reddit users in Singapore (on Android phones) open the Reddit App 116.9 times each month, the highest worldwide. Active Reddit users in Singapore (on Android phones) also spend an average of 3h 56min per month on the app.

Active Telegram users in Singapore (on Android phones) open the Telegram App 237.0 times a month. Singapore is ranked number three globally, behind Russia and Finland.

Surprisingly, active TikTok users in Singapore (on Android phones) spend an average of 34h 29 minutes per month on the app, which is slightly below the worldwide average of 34h 56 minutes

Malaysia

Malaysians spend an average of 8 hours and 13 minutes a day on the internet - ahead of the global average of 6 hours and 38 minutes.

Malaysian internet users aged 16+ spend 2h 46 minutes on social media each day. Malaysian internet users actively use about 8.12 platforms each month.

Active TikTok users in Malaysia (on Android phones) spend an average of 42h 44 minutes per month on the app, as compared to the global average of 34h 56 minutes. 44.9% of social media users in Malaysia say that reading news stories is a main reason for using social media.

Meltwater also found that Malaysian internet users spend 2h 45 minutes daily watching any kind of TV content and that this is comparable to the daily time spent on social media. However, 44.7% of the time spent is watching streaming TV services, not linear TV.

Almost all (95.5%) of Malaysian internet users watch any kind of online video each week - mostly for educational or entertainment purposes. About 3 in 5 (60.8%) watch online music videos each week while about half (50.3%) watch how-to videos, tutorial videos or educational videos each week

It also found, notably, that only 27.9% of Malaysian internet users say they watch vlogs or influencer videos each week.

The Philippines

According to the study, it found that the average time spent on social media in the Philippines is 3 hours and 32 minutes – more than an hour above the global average. Filipinos spend an average of 8 hours and 52 minutes a day on the internet - maintaining its rank as being significantly ahead of the global average of 6 hours and 38 minutes, said Meltwater.

Most of this time on the internet is spent on their mobile phones at 5h 21 minutes, which is also significantly ahead of the global average of 3h 46 minutes.

Filipinos top the use of digital communication methods. 98.9% of Filipino internet users use chat and messenger services each month, higher than the global average of 94.5%.

94.2% of Filipino internet users use email services each month, higher than the global average of 75.0% while 49.5% of Filipino internet users use mobile video calling services each month, higher than the global average of 35.5%.

It also found that 97.6% of Filipino internet users aged 16+ watch online video content each week, ahead of the global benchmark of 92.0%. They are heavily drawn to online videos and are ranked number two in using them as a source of learning (58.1%), and number one in watching vlogs (48.3%) and online music videos (72.3%), far exceeding any of their global peers.

Filipinos also rank number one in the world for playing video games, with 96.6% of internet users aged 16+ playing video games on any device. The global average stands at 83.6%.

Filipino internet users aged 16+ spend 3h 32 minutes on social media each day, ranked number four globally. They also actively use about 8.36 platforms each month. This makes them the second country in the world that uses the most number of social media platforms.

Following influencers on social media is huge in the Philippines, with 44.9% of internet users aged 16+ following influencers or other experts on social media.

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