Social Media Exploitation: New Social Media Apps

Social Media Mishaps & Malfunctions

Propaganda, misinformation and fake news have the potential to polarise public opinion, to promote violent extremism and hate speech and, ultimately, to undermine democracies and reduce trust in the democratic processes.

It is vital for schools to provide students with a solid education on media and information literacy as part of the curriculum.

Teachers must be well-trained in the subject to empower students with the necessary competences to critically understand and assess information reported by all forms of media.

Projects in partnership with national and local authorities and media organisations are encouraged.  

Facts & figures

Two thirds of EU citizens report coming across fake news at least once a week.[1]

Over 80% of EU citizens say they see fake news both as an issue for their country and for democracy in general.[2]

Half of EU citizens aged 15-30 say they need critical thinking and information skills to help them combat fake news and extremism in society.[3]

What is propaganda, misinformation and fake news?

The terms ‘propaganda’, ‘misinformation’ and ‘fake news’ often overlap in meaning. They are used to refer to a range of ways in which sharing information causes harm, intentionally or unintentionally – usually in relation to the promotion of a particular moral or political cause or point of view.

It is possible to separate out three clearly different uses of information which fall into this category:

• Mis-information - false information shared with no intention of causing harm
• Dis-information - false information shared intentionally to cause harm
• Mal-information - true information shared intentionally to cause harm.[4]

Although none of these phenomena are new, they have taken on new significance recently with the widespread availability of sophisticated forms of information and communication technology. The sharing of text, images, videos, or links online, for example, allows information to go viral within hours.

Why is propaganda, misinformation and fake news important at school?

Since information and communication technology is so central to their lives nowadays, young people are particularly vulnerable to propaganda, misinformation and fake news. Young people spend a significant amount of their time watching television, playing online games, chatting, blogging, listening to music, posting photos of themselves and searching for other people with whom to communicate online. They rely heavily on information circulated online for their knowledge of the world and how they perceive reality. Many parents do not have sufficient technical competence to keep up with their children’s online activity, or educate them about the risks they might be facing. Schools, therefore, have a duty to provide young people with the critical and information skills which they cannot access at home.  

“The significant rise of fake news as propaganda in recent years makes it critical that students have the skills they need to identify truth and discern bias.”[5]

The ability to respond critically to online propaganda, misin