Preparation

The exercise deals with the topic of fake news. Various suggestions are listed here. The teacher should familiarise him/herself with the contents in advance and select the topics that are suitable for his/her group of participants. 

Method / Process description

The topic of fake news is complex. This is only a basic introduction to the topic. If necessary, it may be necessary to delve deeper into individual topics. Further links can be found at the end of the page.   

Part1 - Introduction

• First, learners are asked about their own experiences with Fake News. Have they already consciously encountered Fake News? What does the term mean to them? 
• In the next step, various fake news will be shown and discussed as an introduction.
  • The examples of fake news from the project fake-off.eu serve as a basis.
  • These can be downloaded from the website: https://www.fake-off.eu/ .
  • It makes sense to look at 1-2 examples in detail and discuss them. 
  • The following questions should always be asked: 
    • Who created these false reports and for what purpose? 
    • Did the false report harm anyone? 
    • What effect could the fake news have had on the recipients? 
• Alternatively, one of the fakenews games can be used as an introduction. 

Part2 - Checklist Fakenews

• Step1: To start with, the learners should name again which types of false information they know. The terms should be sorted accordingly for a clear definition of the term fake news. (See page 3 of the methods paper Fake News, by the Foundation for New Responsibility)
  • No Fake News are: 
    • Poor politics (Fake News as a fighting term against established media offerings)
    • Poor journalism (usually unintentional misinformation due to journalistic errors)
    • Clickbaiting (deliberate exaggeration of headlines and teasers to lure readers to pages)
    • False reporting (Accidental false reporting)
    • Satire (exaggeration of content to criticise society)
  • Fake news, on the other hand, is:
    • Disinformation (Targeted dissemination of false or misleading information in order to harm someone)
      • Misinterpreted Content (decontextualisation or deliberate misinterpretation of true information)
      • Manipulated Content (manipulation of actually true content, e.g. pictures)
      • Fabricated Content (completely invented content)
• Step 2: Together with the learners, a checklist for recognising fake news should be developed. This can be done in a group or in plenary. 
  • The document "How to spot Fake News" from IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) can be used as a target. Leaflet as PDF in deutsch, english und spanish
  • Alternatively, learners can develop their own checklist. The information sheet can then be handed out for completion. 

Discover fake news through play

There are a number of online games that can be used to discover individual aspects of fake news. The games can be played by the learners individually, together or as homework. However, it is always a good idea to at least share and discuss the experiences of the game in the group. 

• BAD NEWS - From false news to chaos! How bad are you? Your goal: to gain followers.
  (deutsch, english)
• FACTITIOUS - Can you tell if these COVID-19 arcticles are real or fake? (english only)
  • http://factitious-pandemic.augamestudio.com/#/ 
  • How to play 
• FAKE IT OR MAKE IT - Fake It To Make It is a game about the social impact of fake news. (only in German) https://fakeittomakeit.de/ 

As another little warm-up exercise, you can also intersperse the following tweets with sightings of sharks, which always show the same picture: 

• North Myrtle Beach, 2015 https://twitter.com/krislynnestowe/status/650673878939926528 
• Florida, 2016 https://twitter.com/flamesforums/status/784551716872155136 
• Housten, 2017 https://twitter.com/Jeggit/status/902048241646280704 
• The picture without the tweet: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DIS4F4JWsAA14QI.jpg 

Further contents as a basis for discussion

• Complete learning unit "A short guide to History of Fake News" (English language only)
• Documentation "Die dreistesten Fake News der Geschichte" from ZDF neo (45min) (German language only)
• Article "Trolls and bots are flooding social media with disinformation encouraging states to end quarantine" (English language only) https://www.businessinsider.com/trolls-bots-flooding-social-media-with-anti-quarantine-disinformation-2020
• Spreaders of Fake News earn millions (on NTV.de) (German language only)  https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Verbreiter-von-Fake-News-verdienen-Millionen-article21898318.html
• Exercise unit "Misinformation through the media" on the website http://ethicalmediatraining.eu/ 
  (http://ethicalmediatraining.eu/training/activities/media-disinformation/?lang=de)

Download Material

• Teaching material at Fake-off.eu  
  • Toolbox in deutsch, english and spanisch
• How to spot Fake News von der IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA))
  • Leaflet as PDF in deutsch, english and spanish

References

Further content:

• Article: Wie man „digitale Lauffeuer“ in sozialen Medien überwacht // How to police ‘digital wildfires’ on social media 
• Updated list of hoaxes and false reports around the Corona virus on Buzzfeed (english) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/coronavirus-fake-news-disinformation-rumors-hoaxes
• Article: "The Long and Brutal History of Fake News" (englisch)
• Methods paper "Measuring Fake News - The Method" by the Foundation for New Responsibility  https://www.stiftung-nv.de/sites/default/files/fake_news_methodenpapier_deutsch.pdf

Services and websites:

• Hoax Info Service of the TU Berlin (German) https://hoaxinfo.de/hoax/
• Current warnings against fakes and hoaxes - especially in Facebook & Co (German) https://www.mimikama.at/

Fact checker: