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Description
Young people are quite permeable to fake news, as it is the age group that spends the biggest amount of time online and they still don’t have the skills and knowledge to separate fake from unusual news. “Aquacultura de Sereias, Ltd” wants to fight fake news in a universe of 340000 students, through a videogame/app and street theatre, empowering 30 young people in the campaign. At first, the team will learn the mechanisms to spot fake news, in order to devise street performances. This will feed a video-game/app that will be built along 6 months by young students. Once all done, the theatre will go to the street, spreading out the app, while we multiply the contacts with schools from around the country in order to have a big competition. We will end with a final gathering with the top players. We will have a theoretical manual about fake news, a play (and the theatre shows), videos about the creation process, a site, blog and an app that will remain at the online shops.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to combat fake news among young people. It involved the creation of a video game/app available on major digital stores and distributed to all schools nationwide, reaching at least 340,000 students. The project promoted the concepts of debunking fake news, attention and interpretation among a particularly sensitive and susceptible population: young people aged 15 to 20 across the country.
The project was based on the creation and dissemination of a campaign. The first phase of the project focused on developing materials to implement the campaign. With the support of the University of Lisbon, workshops were held to train professionals and young volunteers, and a theoretical booklet on combating fake news and misinformation was produced, with an emphasis on integrating research and artistic creation on the topic. The results were disseminated through street performances and a game made available through an open access mobile application. The project then reached out to 340,000 students from all national secondary schools to promote an inter-school competition.
In quantitative terms, the following was achieved:
- 16 volunteers recruited by supported NGOs;
- 22 civic initiatives led by supported NGOs;
- 16 people educated in civic rights;
- 1 awareness raising campaign carried out;
- 52 partnerships between NGOs and schools promoting civic education;
- 44% share of target group showing civic concerns.
Regarding capacity building, the promoter conducted a needs assessment and prepared an action plan.
All proposed targets were met and exceeded.