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Description
The results of a study conducted by the Demagog association, called ‘The Fake News Problem’ indicate that every 5th young person in Poland does not verify information he or she comes across. A large group of the population, regardless of age, does not feel responsible for the quality of information shared in public, which leads to the spread of fake news. According to the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project, as many as 22% of Poles believe that coronavirus does not exist, and 42% are convinced that the pandemic has been artificially triggered by the Chinese government. A study conducted by Franciszek Czech and Paweł Ścigaj shows that the belief in conspiracy theories is correlated, among others, to support for political parties. Zjednoczona Prawica and Konfederacja voters are most convinced about the truthfulness of global conspiracy theories. This problem is particularly serious in Podkarpacie, where our organisation is seated – this results both from our observations and from statistics regarding political preferences in the region. We will address the above problems by training 20 leaders from the Podkarpackie province in diversifying between sources of information, verifying facts, selecting most important content, and communicating it in a simple and transparent fashion, we will also teach them how to properly moderate a discussion. Each person trained will establish cooperation with a social organisation to prepare a cycle of workshops devoted to fact-checking, communication and debates meant for residents of a given area. We will also create an online fact-checking course which we will promote by means of a nationwide campaign against fake news. Our partner organization is Ważne Sprawy Foundation. Their mission is to improve the quality of public debate by talking about important topics in a simple manner. They will support us with their expertise from the field of information verification, training designing, and creation of online educational tools.
Summary of project results
As stated in the report by the Demagog Association, "The Problem of Fake News," one in five young individuals in Poland does not verify the information they receive. A significant portion of society, regardless of age, does not feel responsible for the quality of publicly shared news, which leads to the spread of false information. According to the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project, as many as 22% of Poles believe that COVID-19 does not exist, and 42% are convinced that the pandemic was artificially caused by the Chinese government.
Research by Franciszek Czech and Paweł Ścigaj indicates that belief in conspiracy theories is linked, among other things, to support for political parties. The strongest belief in the truth of global conspiracy theories is held by voters of the United Right and Confederation parties. In the Podkarpackie region, where our organization is based, this problem is particularly serious, as indicated by both our observations and statistics on political preferences in this region.
We responded to these issues by training 20 young leaders from Podkarpackie region in the diversification of information sources, fact-checking, selecting essential content, conveying it in a simple and transparent manner, and moderating discussions. Each trained individual established cooperation with a social organization and, with their support, organized a series of workshops on fact-checking, argumentation, and discussion culture for residents of a selected area. Additionally, we created an online course on fact-checking, which we promoted as part of a nationwide campaign against fake news.
Our project partner is the Important Issues Foundation, whose mission is to enhance the quality of public debate by discussing significant topics in a straightforward manner. The foundation supported us with their expert knowledge in information verification, training design, and the creation of educational online tools.
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