Finnish youth taught how to spot disinformation
Students attend a class on media literacy at the Hiidenkiven Koulu school on November 19, 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. VOA File Photo
Voice of America
Finland is consistently ranked as Europe's most media literate country and the skills needed to spot online hoaxes are on the school curriculum, amidst a boom of mis- and disinformation campaigns.
"Who knew what a troll was before?" literature and Finnish language teacher Saara Varmola asked her 14-to-15-year-old students, who all raised their hands during a class at a Helsinki school in November.
"Who produced the material that you watch, what do you produce yourself and whether you have an ethical responsibility," Varmola tells AFP, as she lists the critical questions to ask when living in a global information environment increasingly characterized by misleading information.
By teaching its citizens how to critically engage with media content to debunk hoaxes, mis- and disinformation, as well as to produce content of their own, Finland wants to promote media literacy as a civic skill.
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