Drazen/AdobestockThe project #NoFakeFacts! is a new initiative from Sparkling Science 2.0 that aims to equip young people with the skills they need to deal with digital information and sources. The idea is to help young people spot fake news, think critically about it, and handle digital content responsibly. As well as boosting media and information literacy, this also promotes young people’s understanding of science and democracy.

In an age where information travels at lightning speed and anyone can publish content, media and information literacy is rapidly emerging as a key democratic skill. Traditional gatekeepers such as newsrooms are losing influence, while social media has become the most important socialisation platform for young people – over 90 per cent of Austrian teenagers use it every day. As a result, there is also an increased risk of coming into contact with populist, extremist, or conspiracy-based content. “Because young people are still in a developmental phase and are therefore easily influenced, there is an urgent need for action here,” says Christina Seeger, project manager and professor at the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Klagenfurt. She adds: ‘Despite the high relevance of the topic, we still lack scientific knowledge about how young people perceive information and sources, how they separate fact from fiction, and what importance they attach to science. We also lack age-appropriate educational materials that can be used when time resources are limited.’ She and her team, consisting of post-doctoral researcher Selina Noetzel and doctoral student Chiara Tabakan, hope to change this.
This is where the NoFakeFacts! project comes in, as Christina Seeger explains: “By bringing together science, political education, and school teaching, we aim to generate sound scientific findings and, based on these, develop age-appropriate teaching materials to address the topic.” The project involves pupils aged 14 to 18 from the project classes of the four partner schools across Austria who are taking part in the school workshops, as well as other pupils from the ‘control’ classes who are participating in the longitudinal study. In addition, around 150 teachers and youth education multipliers who work with young people of this age are involved. Further dissemination measures are planned to ensure wider distribution.
The project structure comprises four stages: In the first stage, the young people are encouraged to critically examine the topic. They then conduct their own empirical research. The findings are subsequently transformed by the pupils into creative teaching materials. Finally, multipliers disseminate the results throughout the educational landscape.
#NoFakeFacts! was recently launched and is being run in cooperation with the University of Klagenfurt and ‘Sapere Aude. Democracy Education’. The project is funded by ‘Sparkling Science 2.0’.
Der Beitrag Project #NoFakeFacts! boosts young people’s media literacy in times of disinformation erschien zuerst auf University of Klagenfurt.