Navigating the Digital World: Youth Against Disinformation

Navigating the Digital World: Youth Against Disinformation

Given the scale and intensification of disinformation at the EU level, especially in the Internet space, it is necessary to develop critical thinking, critical information reading and other media literacy skills of young people who are the most active users of social media. The project will include workshops on disinformation recognition in the media, discussions with active community youth and the ctrainings on fake news and safe media use to develop young people's ability to critically analyze and evaluate information in the media, identify fake news and raise awareness of the negative effects of disinformation. During the activities, participants will be encouraged to perform practical tasks, discuss and express their opinion, analyze the problem and look for possible ways to solve it and act in the community.
Project provides a unique mix of activities, including meeting decision-makers, online content creation, and an online awareness-raising campaign aiming to increase young people's resilience from partner countries to disinformation.
Based on the project idea and planned activities, the project will pursue the following objectives:
-Introduce young people to media literacy and provide effective tools for working with information, in order to protect against misinformation, manipulation and fake news.
-Engage young people to critically analyze information, distinguish reliable sources from misinformation, and make informed judgments about current events.
- Involve young individuals from target groups in opportunities to take part in the cultural, social, and civic aspects of EU life at local, national and European levels.
-Enhance collaboration between our organizations and the local communities.

The project targets young people from partner countries aged 16-25 years. The group will be comprised of youth facing fewer economic, social, and cultural opportunities and/or representing refugee, immigrant, and war-affected groups.
In conclusion, the success of this project will lead to a future in which young people are more media literate, there is a more conscious attitude towards false news throughout society, and greater collaboration is achieved for the dissemination of trustworthy information. As a result, individuals will be better equipped to access reliable and accurate information in digital media, and they will become more resistant to false news in the future.

Project activities:
1.Concept Mapping: Participants will conduct a study on the concept of disinformation.
2.Fact-Checking and Disinformation training course
3.Online awareness raising campaign
4.Misinformation and how do we protect ourselves from it training course
5.A manual with useful and comprehensive information on the topic will be created as a training material, which will be distributed in printed and electronic format.
6.Local workshops with students from partner countries on recognizing and verifying fake news;
7.Workshops on cyber threats on the Internet;
8.Local workshops with students from partner countries on Social media;
9.Local Workshops preparing for debates with decision-makers - the art of self-presentation;
10.Debates with policy makers.

Impact
With our project, our target audience will become more aware of disinformation, and the media literacy level of young people will increase. As a result of the project, young people will learn to consume information on digital platforms more consciously and critically, avoiding manipulative content.

Furthermore, the increase in media literacy will contribute to future generations developing healthier media consumption habits. Additionally, there will be an increased awareness of the harms of false news throughout society.

A more sensitive societal attitude towards false news will develop, making it more difficult for such content to spread. Collaboration between young people, media organizations, and social media platforms will strengthen.
Reliable information flow will increase, and more effective measures will be taken against the spread of false news. As a result of these effects, we aim to create a more competent society in the future in terms of accessing reliable information in digital media. With this project, we will take a significant step in contributing to the fight against false news by enhancing the media literacy of young people.

We are looking for a local NGO interested in joining this long term partnership. Interested organizations should send their PIF by e-mail to: office@modoflife.ro. We will get back to those selected.