dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Kick-off for "Think Twice" project: video tips against disinformation online
Hamburg (ots)
The EU wants to ban cola and pets? False claims like these are often spread online. To counteract this, the German Press Agency (dpa) has launched a new video series with media literacy tips in a social media format. The clips are distributed via channels such as Instagram and TikTok and show young users how they can recognize false information themselves. The series is part of the international "Think Twice" project initiated by dpa to curb disinformation. The first video can be found using the hashtag #Stopthinktwicecheck and on www.stop-thinktwice-check.eu.
In the next step, accompanying teaching materials for schools will be offered as well. From April 2024, young people will also have the opportunity to participate in the project. They can take part in video conferences and workshops in a community with a virtual newsroom and create their own videos.
"Social media is an important source of information, especially for younger people. However, to avoid falling for fakes, they need to be able to correctly assess sources and recognize warning signs," says Teresa Dapp, head of dpa’s fact-checking team. "With our new videos, we convey the necessary knowledge in a simple and clear way."
The current example of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas shows how rapidly disinformation is spreading online. In addition, there are tools such as ChatGPT or Midjourney, with which even lay people can create fake content that looks deceptively real with the help of artificial intelligence.
The EU-funded project will run until the end of September 2025 and brings together partners from several countries. Also involved is dpa’s #UseTheNews initiative, which aims to promote young people's news skills with a "Year of News" in 2024. Among other things, news will be prepared at a social news desk in such a way that teenagers and young adults recognize the relevance to their everyday lives.
More information on: https://www.dpa.com/en/think-twice and www.stop-thinktwice-check.eu
YouTube: http://dpaq.de/Yxxu6
Instagram: http://dpaq.de/Xy8Fw
TikTok: http://dpaq.de/QiuBI
About dpa:
The German Press Agency (dpa) was founded in 1949 and is one of the world's leading independent news agencies. dpa supplies media outlets, businesses and other organizations with editorial content, including text, photos, videos, graphics, audio and other formats. As an international agency, dpa reports in seven languages. The company has around 1,000 journalists at some 140 locations in Germany and abroad. Its shareholders are about 170 German media companies. Staff work according to the principles outlined in the dpa statute: independently from ideologies, businesses and governments. The central editing desk, under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Sven Gösmann, is located in Berlin. The management team, headed by President & CEO Peter Kropsch, is based in Hamburg. The Chairman of the Board is David Brandstätter (Main-Post GmbH, Würzburg).
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Original-Content von: dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, übermittelt durch news aktuell