How to Counter Fake News:
The last workshop for high school students took place in Suceava within the House of Memory project

Hate speech and disinformation on the Internet are powerful tools often used to spread propaganda. The latest group of students from the National College "Petru Rares" (Suceava) learned how to avoid falling into the traps of false news.
On 6 October, during the workshop, lecturer Dr Anca Zaharia presented the technologies and narratives used by manipulators to distort the audience’s perception of the world. Today, they are actively spread in the media and social networks not only by russian propaganda but also by other authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. Dr Anca Zaharia used specific examples that she had specially prepared for this workshop in order to demonstrate these issues clearly. The students analyzed these examples together and learned to recognize fakes.
Traditionally, the event also covered discrimination and hate speech in the mass media. In this part of the workshop, the lecturer focused on the dangerous consequences of these phenomena: psychological pressure on a person, incitement to hatred, humiliation, and physical violence. The students had the opportunity to share examples from their own lives and offer their views on combatting discrimination and hatred among children and youth.
The highlight of the day was once again a conversation with Oana Șlemco, a journalist from the local newspaper "Monutorul", who shared her professional experience and practical advice on fact-checking and countering fakes in an exciting and accessible manner. The participants eagerly completed all the practical exercises and tasks prepared by her and the lecturer. The last of them was the creation of memes on discrimination, hate speech, and fake news. As the final presentations revealed, the students particularly enjoyed this activity and showed great creativity.
This workshop was the last one of a series held as part of the project over the past year.