Poll: Do children spend too much time online?
Children now spend an average of 15 hours a week online and are becoming increasingly trusting of what they find. Do you think children spend too much time online?
The amount of time eight to 15-year-olds spend on the internet has more than doubled over the last decade, Ofcom's report into media attitudes among children and parents found.
But these so-called digital natives - children who have grown up with the internet - often lack "online nous" to decide if what they see is true or impartial, the regulator concluded.
Almost one in 10 children who go online (8%) believe information from social media websites or apps is "all true" - doubling from 4% last year - and most 12 to 15-year-olds are unaware that "vloggers", or video bloggers, can be paid to endorse products.
Almost a fifth of online 12 to 15-year-olds (19%) believe information returned by a search engine such as Google or Bing must be true, but only a third (31%) are able to identify paid-for adverts.
The study found children are increasingly turning to YouTube for "true and accurate" information about what is going on in the world, with 8% of online youngsters naming the video sharing site as their preferred choice for this type of information - up from 3% last year.
But just half of 12 to 15-year-olds who watch YouTube (52%) are aware that advertising is the main source of funding on the site, and less than half (47%) are aware vloggers are often paid to favourably mention products or services.
