In a democratic society, citizens take part in political processes, for example, in parliamentary elections, through petitions, participation in demonstrations or involvement in political parties.
Power in a democratic society comes from the people. Freedom of opinion and freedom of the press are an important basis for democratic decision-making. If the diversity of information and opinion is impaired by false news, democratic processes can be jeopardized. Targeted disinformation and the concealment of facts make it difficult to form opinions freely.
Imparting basic information technology skills to children
In kindergartens, schools, educational institutions and in the family, it is therefore essential to provide information about the mechanisms of fake news and to impart basic information technology skills. This includes questions such as: Who can I believe? Which media are trustworthy? Are friends on social networks real friends? How can I find out which message is true or false? How do I react to fake news and hate comments? And with basic IT skills, you can find hire a statistician near you.
The subjects of general education schools offer numerous points of contact to educate about fake news
- In German lessons, source and research work is taught.
- International media providers can be used and discussed in foreign language lessons.
- The subject of history provides the framework to examine the historical development of fake news and its influence in human history.
- In social studies, political decision-making processes and media are generally the subject of lessons. The political influence of fake news can be discussed in senior high school politics.
- Image and video manipulation can be practically tested and understood in the art classes. Interesting illustrative material for this is provided by historical examples of image manipulation or current experiments with the manipulation of videos in real-time.
- The basic course in media education and the subject of computer science are also available for topics related to information literacy. Topics such as social networks, social bots, and algorithms can be learned in these subjects.
Fake news can affect children and society as a whole but with basic skills in information technology, you can know if the news is fake or not.