A programme to help children in Derby spot fake news has been rolled out by Derby College and it could be used nationwide.
The scheme, with The Guardian Foundation, is aimed at school children and college students – and comes as teachers acknowledge that the spread of false information online is having a real impact on youngsters.
A recent Ofcom study found 88% of young people between the ages of 16-24 get news from online platforms, with 82% relying on social media, including TikTok.
Derby College hosted a symposium on Thursday, 27 February (yesterday) at the University of Derby’s Britannia Mill campus to explore the programme in more depth attended by 100 people, including Derby North’s Labour MP – Catherine Atkinson.
Speaking about the event, Mrs Atkinson said: “The work being done is so important, the more people that know about it, the more conversations you’re sparking.
“The skills and empowerment that this is giving people is needed now more than ever before and so I think and this has come at such an important time.”
The dangers of AI within news has been in the headlines this week, when a supposed clip of Donald Trump Jr saying that military aid should have been sent to Russia and not Ukraine being shared online.
Audio forensic experts have since told the BBC News that this is most likely AI generated.
Debbie Painter, one of the programme’s advisory panel members, said critical thinking skills are crucial in education, because young adults are most vulnerable to the influence of ‘conspiracy thinking’.
She said: “I am part of a news group known as News Futures 2035, I work with academics, journalists and regulators to build a policy brief which has been submitted to the House of Lords.
“Every child, across every school and every college should be taught the importance of media literacy.”
