THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FAKE NEWS

As a parent, one of the most important questions that has plagued me during this time is in what kind of society will our children live tomorrow? Probably part of the answer to this question is contained in the education we offer today.

Education plays a key role in building the future and reflects what we want to prepare for future generations. What kind of education we have today – such a future we will have tomorrow.

Children and young people today live in a very different world from previous generations. Today they make up one of the largest segments of the population, they are more educated, more innovative and digitally more connected than ever before.

According to available data, there are currently 1.9 billion children under 15 and 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 around the world, representing 25% of the total population and 87% of this population living in developing countries (UNFPA, 2014) (UNDESA, 2017). In some regions of the world, almost 20% of the total population is consisted by youth[1]. This is the largest percentage of young people ever to live on our planet and is projected to grow in the coming years. This in itself is a huge potential. Young people must and will be active agents of change.

The observed lack of social protection, education and skills makes young people particularly vulnerable. 

In such circumstances, the existence and spread of fake news can have serious repercussions on them. Although propagandists have been looking for ways to manipulate the truth since ancient times, in the Internet age combined with the low level of youth media literacy, the consequences can be enormous.

In several European countries the danger of fake news has been raised to the highest political level and serious measures are being taken to combat it. At the same time, various state institutions, governments, but especially universities are planning and implementing appropriate interventions in the fight against fake news. These interventions are in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and are guided by the principles of non-discrimination, commitment to the best interests of the child, the right to life, survival and development, and respect for the attitudes of the child. 

Educational systems should prepare young people to become active, engaged and responsible individuals. Without this, complex, multicultural societies that are evolving at a fast pace cannot survive.

With the emergence and development of quantum computerization and artificial intelligence, it is even more important for children to acquire values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and critical understanding that will enable them to make responsible decisions about their future.

One of the basic tasks of education systems is to prepare young people for democratic citizenship through schools and universities. This implies that students need to know and understand the challenges they face, to be aware of the consequences of their decisions, to know what they can do, and what to abstain from. To be capable of all this, it is not enough to have only knowledge but also to have adequate competences.

Educational institutions play an important role in this process. Most children have their first meeting with society in schools. Schools should be places where democratic education begins. Critical thinking is strengthened by encouraging students to engage with different aspects of a particular topic and with different possible interpretations of the topic.

Being a citizen in the era of hyper connectivity today means being constantly exposed to a remarkable amount of information, directed and tailored to us through our personal devices. At the same time, we ourselves are the source of data and information that contribute to the design and governance of this digital habitat. 

Young people are bombarded with information from a variety of sources, ranging from teachers, family members, friends, commercials, TV programs and the Internet. This information may have varying degrees of accuracy, objectivity and ethical credibility but can also be quite inaccurate and biased.

Introducing additional curriculum content into existing curricula as one of the opportunities to tackle fake news is a challenge that many government and educational institutions around the world face. It can be a long and laborious process.

The fight against fake news cannot wait and therefore appropriate measures must and may be taken immediately. For example, teachers’ capacities can be immediately strengthened, then initiated to raise awareness about the existence and consequences of false news.

But the key to dealing with fake news is the digital competences that young people need to possess. They are becoming increasingly important to empower young people to raise awareness and critical access to online content. The most important measure against spreading misinformation and fake news is to encourage critical thinking combined with competences and knowledge on the one hand, values and attitudes on the other.

Effective teaching methods must be immediately available to integrate these competencies into different classroom activities, suitable for all subjects. These teaching approaches will help foster students’ digital competences, enabling them to start thinking critically and thereby identifying the intent of misinformation, understanding digital information and managing it.

And yes, the fight against fake news must be guided by education at all levels at the same time.

Luan Imeri

[1] UNDESA (2016), The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016; UNFPA (2014), The State of World Population 2014: The power of 1.8 billion adolescents, youth and the transformation of the future.