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Use one set of criteria to evaluate books, online sources, teacher lessons, social media posts, etc.

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Post 3 videos on a topic, students select which one they feel is most reliable for information

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- fabricated content
- manipulated content
- impostor content
- misleading content
- satire and parody

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The Lunatics are Running the Asylum - Renee DiResta

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Mental Health Impact: “If you showed them more negative stories, they would feel more negatively. If you showed them positive stories, they would feel more positive”

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The manipulation of public opinion over social media platforms has emerged as a critical threat to public life. Around the world, government agencies and political parties are exploiting social media platforms to spread junk news and disinformation, exercise censorship and control, and undermine trust in media, public institutions and science.

Now, a new report from the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has found that despite efforts to combat computational propaganda, the problem is growing at a large scale.

"The number of countries where formally organised social media manipulation occurs has greatly increased, from 28 to 48 countries globally," says Samantha Bradshaw, co-author of the report. "The majority of growth comes from political parties who spread disinformation and junk news around election periods. There are more political parties learning from the strategies deployed during Brexit and the US 2016 Presidential election: more campaigns are using bots, junk news, and disinformation to polarise and manipulate voters."

This is despite efforts by governments in many democracies introducing new legislation designed to combat fake news on the internet. "The problem with this is that these 'task forces' to combat fake news are being used as a new tool to legitimise censorship in authoritarian regimes," says Professor Phil Howard, co-author and lead researcher on the OII's Computational Propaganda project. "At best, these types of task forces are creating counter-narratives and building tools for citizen awareness and fact-checking."

Another challenge is the evolution of the mediums individuals use to share news and information. "There is evidence that disinformation campaigns are moving on to chat applications and alternative platforms," says Bradshaw. "This is becoming increasingly common in the Global South, where large public groups on chat applications are more popular."

Automated bot accounts still continue to be a well-used tactic. Online commentators and fake accounts are used to spread pro-party messages, as well as being used to strategically share content or post using keywords to game algorithms and get certain content trending. They are also being used to report legitimate content and accounts on a mass scale, causing them to be taken down temporarily. "We suspect new innovation will continue to emerge as platforms and governments take legal and regulatory steps to curb this type of activity," says Howard.

Overall, the use of organised social media manipulation campaigns is a big business. "We estimate that tens of millions of dollars are spent on this type of activity," says Howard. "Some of the money may be spent on legitimate advertising on social media, but there is certainly a growing industry for fake accounts, online commentators, and political bots."

Read the full report on the Computational Propaganda website.

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New report reveals growing threat of organised social media manipulation world-wide

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The manipulation of public opinion over social media platforms has emerged as a critical threat to public life. Around the world, government agencies and political parties are exploiting social media platforms to spread junk news and disinformation, exercise censorship and control, and undermine trust in media, public institutions and science.

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2% of children have the critical literacy skills they need to tell if a news story is real or fake; 61% of teachers believe fake news is harming children’s well-being, increasing their anxiety levels; 54% of teachers believe that the national curriculum does not equip children with the literacy skills they need to identify fake news

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Fake news and critical literacy: final report | National Literacy Trust

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The final report of the Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy in Schools.

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Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report

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Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report

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BBC: Spaghetti-Harvest in Ticino | Switzerland Tourism

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Concerned Children's Advertisers: House Hippo

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Concerned Children's Advertisers: House Hippo

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Something is not quite right with this photo...

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Common Sense Media: Evaluating News Formats

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Common Sense Media: Evaluating News Formats

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Students learn the components of online news articles, paying close attention to advertising and sponsored content that can be confused with article content.

(To view subtitles, click on the white box at the bottom right of the video.)

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Reading News Online | Common Sense Education

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Reading News Online is a video from Common Sense Education. Use this video to help your students learn and thrive in our connected world.

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- Unusual URLs
- Dissect the layout
- Dig Deeper into the story
- Cross Check Information
- Reverse image search

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Parent’s Guide: watch Common Sense Media’s 5 Ways to Spot Fake News advice video to help you make informed decisions with your children.

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National Literacy Trust: Fake News and Critical Literacy Resources

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National Literacy Trust: Fake News and Critical Literacy Resources

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This series of fake news and critical literacy resources have been created in response to the findings and recommendations from the Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy Skills in Schools.

These resources are designed to help primary and secondary teachers, parents and school librarians equip children with the critical literacy skills they need to survive and thrive in today's digital world.

The resources include:

Parents

Top tips guide to help start conversations about fake news with children

Primary

Primary teaching resource which includes practical lesson ideas, critical questions and a directory of useful organisations and further resources

Primary discussion cards to help students think more critically about the texts they read in lessons

Primary poster for displaying in the classroom

Secondary

Secondary teaching resource which includes practical lesson ideas, critical questions and a directory of useful organisations and further resources

Secondary discussion cards to help students think more critically about the texts they read in lessons, which can be used in all subjects and with all text types

Secondary poster for displaying in the classroom

Subject-specific case studies and lesson plans for: citizenship, drama, economics, English, history, PSHE, maths, school libraries, science and sociology

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Fake news and critical literacy resources | National Literacy Trust

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This series of fake news and critical literacy resources have been created in response to the findings and recommendations from the Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy Skills in Schools. These resources are designed to help primary and secondary teachers, parents and school librarians equip children with the critical literacy skills they need to survive and thrive in today's digital world.

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On this page, you'll find Search Literacy lessons and A Google A Day classroom challenges. Our search literacy lessons help you meet the new Common Core State Standards and are broken down based on level of expertise in search: Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.

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International Fact Checking Day - April 2

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International Fact Checking Day - April 2

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International Fact-Checking Day is promoted by the International Fact-Checking Network in partnership with fact-checking organizations around the world. At IFCN, we believe that professional fact-checkers shouldn’t be the only ones debunking false information. A healthy information ecosystem require…

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Common Sense Media: Online Skills Scope and Sequence

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Common Sense Media: Online Skills Scope and Sequence

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Interactive lessons and activities for all students!

Use digital citizenship lesson plans to address timely topics and prepare students to take ownership of their digital lives. Browse lessons by grade and topic below, or see an overview of the curriculum.
We've got more new lessons! Explore all lesson plans or check our lesson collections!

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DigCit Curriculum | Common Sense Education

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Research-backed digital citizenship lesson plans help schools navigate timely topics, such as cyberbullying, online safety, privacy, and media literacy.

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Simple practical tools anyone can use to identify bad information.