Обука за јавни лажни вести: Борбата за јавната вистина

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• Септември 22, 2022

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Disinformation is increasingly used by cybercriminals and foreign entities, challenging agencies and educational institutions to teach media literacy, especially to the youth. Studies show a concerning trend where many young people struggle to differentiate between real and fake news, prompting initiatives like games and websites to educate them. These efforts, ranging from public training programs to enhanced digital literacy in school curriculums, aim to empower individuals in discerning truth, but also face challenges like cyber-attacks and evolving disinformation tactics.

Public fake news training context

Disinformation campaigns are becoming more frequent as cybercriminals and foreign governments find success in utilizing this tactic. However, as conspiracy theorists and fake news superspreaders victimize the public, federal agencies and educational organizations worldwide scramble to educate communities about media literacy, particularly the younger generation. A 2016 study conducted by the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) found that middle and high school students mostly failed to identify credible sources from unreliable ones. 

In 2019, SHEG did a follow-up study on young people’s ability to verify a claim on social media or the Internet. They recruited 3,000 high school students for the research and ensured diverse profiles to reflect the US population. The results were sobering. More than half of respondents believed that a low-quality video on Facebook depicting ballot stuffing was substantial evidence of voter fraud in the 2016 US primaries, even though the footage was from Russia. Additionally, more than 96 percent could not identify that a climate change denial group was affiliated with the fossil fuel industry. 

As a result of these findings, universities and nonprofits are collaborating to establish public fake news training programs, including digital literacy skills. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) launched the SMaRT-EU short course on disinformation, a multi-generational project that offers training tools, ideas, and resources to young people and the elderly.

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In 2019, Cambridge University researchers and the Dutch media group Drog launched a website browser game, Bad News, to “inoculate” people against fake news and studied the effects of the game. Bad News presents players with fake news headlines and asks them to rank their perceived reliability on a scale from one to five. The results emphasized that before playing Bad News, participants were 21 percent more likely to be persuaded by counterfeit news headlines. The researchers expressed they want to develop a simple and engaging way to establish media literacy in a younger audience and then see how long the effects last. Therefore, a version of Bad News was created for children aged 8-10 and is available in 10 languages. 

Similarly, Google released a website designed to help children “be Internet awesome.” The site explains “The Internet Code of Awesome,” which includes tips on detecting if a piece of information is false, verifying the source, and sharing content. Aside from identifying inaccurate content, the site teaches children how to protect their privacy and safely interact with others online.

The site also has games and a curriculum for teachers who want to incorporate fake news training into their educational programs. To build this resource and make it multi-functional, Google collaborated with nonprofits like the Internet Keep Safe Coalition and the Family Online Safety Institute.

Implications of public fake news training

Wider implications of public fake news training may include: 

• Anti-disinformation agencies collaborating with universities and community advocacy groups to establish formal training against fake news.
• Universities and schools required to include digital literacy skills training in their curriculums.
• The establishment of more public training websites designed to help young people identify fake news through games and other interactive activities.
• Increasing incidents of cybercriminals hacking or shutting down digital literacy sites.
• Disinformation-as-a-service providers and propaganda bots adapting their techniques and language to target children and the elderly, making these groups more vulnerable to fake news.
• Governments integrating fake news awareness into public education campaigns, enhancing citizens' ability to discern truth in media and promoting informed decision-making.
• Enhanced reliance on artificial intelligence by media platforms to detect and flag fake news, reducing misinformation but raising concerns about censorship and freedom of expression.
• Businesses leveraging fake news training to bolster brand credibility, leading to increased consumer loyalty and trust in companies that prioritize truthful communication.

Прашања што треба да се разгледаат

• If your community or city has an anti-fake news training program, how is it conducted?
• How do you equip or train yourself to identify fake news?