Biased information, information manipulation, or hoaxes are concepts that are increasingly present in our society. We have become accustomed to hearing about disinformation every day but knowing how to identify it is not common. In the midst of the digital transition, false and erroneous information on the Internet is spreading at full speed, and its effects are not harmless. On the contrary, they have serious consequences such as increased social polarization, the spread of fear and hate speech, and a growing mistrust of the media. This context is especially harmful to adolescents who, at a critical stage of learning and development, face false, confusing, and dangerous content without knowing how to differentiate it from useful, proven, and truthful information. In a New York Times article, Robert White, a government and politics teacher at a high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, states, "Most students believed what they saw on a news site, any news site."
The pandemic has turned the digital environment into one of the few windows on the world for millions of teenagers. Those who have access to devices and a good connection spends more time on the Internet, where they inform, discuss and participate. If the new generations get their information from social media and other online resources, they must learn to decode what they read. Recent research suggests that many are digital natives but don't have the tools to safely navigate a sea of misinformation.
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