78% of school systems have dealt with false information this year
With false information becoming more prevalent in school communities, it’s even more important now for school communicators to know how to prevent and potentially react to misinformation, the National School Public Relations Association says. Photo by CDC/Pexels
K-12 Dive
A whopping 78 percent of school communication professionals say they have faced challenges with false information in school communities this year, up from 62 percent in 2020, according to a survey released this month by the National School Public Relations Association.
While misinformation and disinformation has been prevalent in school communities for some time, NSPRA said its findings highlight how much faster and more frequently false information has spread in recent years.
False information can be further amplified using generative artificial intelligence, and schools are already beginning to feel these negative effects. In the past school year, districts have had to navigate deepfake tools that have been used to create AI-generated nude photos of students or fake audio recordings of school leaders.
Such cases have also led to heightened calls for media literacy lessons in schools to combat misinformation.
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