Disinformation & deep fakes

The Pope in a white designer coat, the burning Hollywood sign and bedbugs in Paris - fake news spreads rapidly and uncontrollably via the internet and social media. But why is disinformation problematic? And how can you and your family recognize disinformation? The team from ZEBRA at the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia answers these and other questions.

The NRW Media Authority recently launched its "campaign against disinformation" under the motto "Source: Trust me!". The aim of this campaign is to make young people in particular aware of the danger of deliberately misleading false information.

Disinformation refers to the targeted creation and dissemination of false information. In most cases, the people spreading disinformation want to derive a specific benefit from it. For example, they want to put certain people or organizations in a bad light or influence people's political opinions.

The term "fake news" is often used synonymously with disinformation. However, some people also use it to attack dissenters or to discredit the reports of legitimate media such as television stations or daily newspapers. The term was particularly prevalent during the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's first presidency from 2016 onwards.

As citizens in democracies are allowed to have a say in political developments through elections, it is important that they can inform themselves and form an objective opinion.

If this is no longer possible because disinformation is circulating on the internet, this can have a negative impact on political opinion-forming and decision-making.

The JIM Study 2024 found that 67% of 12-19-year-olds agree with the following statement: "I have come across disinformation on the internet in the last month." At the same time, 74% of respondents are informed about world events at least several times a week by their family. The family therefore plays a major role when it comes to news.

It is important to talk to young people in particular about disinformation. You can also use specific examples from the past:

For example, you and your children may have heard in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris that there were supposedly bedbugs in France. However, many people still don't know that this story was made up. Russia is said to have spread the disinformation in order to reduce anticipation of the event.

You can use examples like these to educate your children about disinformation. The playful quiz applications from the Internet ABC and the EU initiative klicksafe can also help.

The question-and-answer service ZEBRA helps parents to deal responsibly with fake news.

It is important to talk openly about disinformation and make it clear that we often encounter it in everyday life. For example, it can help to read, listen to or watch the news together as a family and discuss it.

You can then discuss or research together which sources of information you consider trustworthy and which you prefer to fact-check. For both children and parents, the news test can be a good exercise

Social media content can be discussed with older children. You can ask the following questions:

• Is what they are saying true?
• Does something here seem strange to you?
• Has this ever happened to you?
• Who might be interested in you seeing this?

You can also agree on rules that all family members must then adhere to. Such agreements can be recorded with the help of a media usage agreement. For example, one rule could read: "When we come across a message, we first ask ourselves who benefits from it and check it before we believe it or pass it on."

If you or your family come across disinformation, it is best to report the post in question. Most social media platforms now offer "disinformation" or "misinformation" as a reason for reporting. Under no circumstances should content with misleading information be shared or otherwise disseminated without further classification.

In addition, the person who shared the information should be informed that it is disinformation. They often do not even know that they are dealing with disinformation. In the case of public posts, it may also be advisable to actively respond. This could, for example, be a commentary with source-based facts and a factual classification of the misinformation.

In many cases, disinformation can be recognized by the language used. Images and videos should also be critically scrutinized.