With expertise against fakesHow we can support young people in their information literacy

Wars, attacks, climate catastrophes - young people also use social media to find out about current news and socio-political issues. The special evaluation of the PISA 2022 study on information literacy recently published by the Technical University of Munich shows that many young people in Germany have problems recognizing fake news and assessing the quality of online information. A third of the young people surveyed in Germany do not check whether information from the internet is correct before sharing it on social media. We provide tips and advice on how you can educate young people on how to deal with disinformation and promote their information literacy.

How we can support young people in their information literacy

As the JIM Study 2024 shows, war, climate change and elections are among the most important topics for 12 to 19-year-olds in 2024. But where exactly do young people find out about current issues? Which news sources do they use? According to the JIM study, knowledge about current world events is shaped by personal conversations and only comes second to the media. 61% of the young people surveyed have already been confronted with fake news online, 54% with extreme political views and 43% with conspiracy narratives (source: JIM Study 2024).

Young people feel inadequately prepared for disinformation

The special evaluation of the PISA Study 2022 on information literacy recently published by the Technical University of Munich shows that many young people in Germany state that they have problems recognizing fake news . According to their own assessment, they can easily find information on the internet, but feel unsure about how to assess its quality. In an international comparison, fifteen-year-olds in Germany rate their own skills in evaluating online information lower than the average in OECD countries. Around 60 percent of pupils in Germany compare different sources to check the veracity of news. However, this is more than 10 percent lower than the OECD average of more than 70 percent. In addition, a third of the young people surveyed in Germany do not check whether information from the internet is correct before sharing it on social media.

Safer Internet Day 2025: No likes for lies!

On Safer Internet Day 2025 on February 11, we are focusing on educating, empowering and enabling young people to deal with deepfakes, populism and extremism. To this end, we are offering various materials and activities for teachers, parents and young people. At the SID, we invite all grades 8 to 10 and explain the impact of disinformation on individuals and society.

→ All information can be found on our SID website

How parents and educational professionals can provide support

In order for young people to form a fact-based opinion, they need information literacy. It is important that parents, guardians and educational professionals regularly talk to children and young people about the latest news and help them to classify the information.

Talk about fake news and practisedealing with (dis)informationwith children and young people: make it clear how they can recognize misleading news online, how dubious news can be checked and what reputable information is available on social media.

Reputable news services for young people on social media are, for example

  • News-WG is an information format from Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) on Instagram.
  • Nicetoknow is a WDR news format on TikTok for young people, with young people.
  • funk from ARD and ZDF is active on various social media channels (e.g. Instagram and TikTok) and is aimed at teenagers and young adults aged 14 and over with a mixture of information, guidance and entertainment.
  • Tagesschau short clips from ARD on YouTube are moderated by young people and provide an understandable insight into daily news in just a few minutes.

Also point out fact-checker offers that help to debunk false reports, for example:

In the klicksafe topic area "Disinformation and opinion" you will find further tips and information.

With klicksafe materials for more media literacy

klicksafe offers comprehensive materials to promote information literacy, opinion-forming and dealing with fake news.

For young people:

For educational professionals:

For parents:

News test

Can you recognize false reports straight away? What is a reputable source? Is this an opinion piece or an information report? The news test provides information about your personal news competence. Test your knowledge in the areas of judgment, fact check, participation, knowledge and understanding. At the end of the test you will find out your result; also in comparison to the German average.

www.der-newstest.de