Civic education FAKE NEWS In recent years, fake news information that is partially or completely false, spread intentionally or unintentionally, via the web or the media has become a widespread and often uncontrolled phenomenon. The European Commission highlights that 63% of young Europeans come across fake news more than once a week and 51% of Europeans believe they have been exposed to disinformation online. False information spreads extremely quickly thanks to sharing through the use of social networks, and it has become extremely difficult to distinguish real news from false news. How to recognise it There are a few methods that help you to evaluate the nature and the value of the information you find. The most popular are: the SIFT method: Stop, Investigate the Source, Find better coverage, Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context; t he CRAAP test: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose it includes a series of questions as a guide. 23 GROUP WORK Follow the instructions. 1. Split up into groups. 40 2. Look for two different pieces of news online. 4. Discuss which was the most straightforward for you. 3. Apply a different method on each article to find out whether the news was real or fake. 5. Try and combine the two methods by putting together the criteria that were the most useful. Communication AND PSYCHOLOGY