Break the Fake: Spotting hate propaganda
What do we mean by propaganda?
- Propaganda tries to get you to believe in an idea or to feel a certain way.
- Propaganda convinces you by provoking your emotions instead of making a logical argument.
Not all propaganda is bad! It can inspire positive emotions like love, pride and empathy. It can persuade us to do things like putting on seatbelts or brushing our teeth.
Hate propaganda is different: it tries to make us fear and distrust another group of people.
On The Loose: A Guide to Life Online For Post-Secondary Students
On the Loose: A Guide to Online Life for Post-Secondary Students supports young adults who are experiencing both new freedoms and challenges in their post- secondary life.
Break the Fake: Becoming a Fact–Checker
This lesson is designed to help students determine the validity of information that is presented to them on the Internet. After reviewing a series of evaluation techniques for online resources, students form groups to assess selected websites.
Break the Fake Lesson Plan: Verifying information online
In this lesson, students participate in a workshop that teaches them four quick, easy steps to verify online information. After practicing these four steps they create a public service announcement aimed at teaching one of these steps and spreading the message that it is necessary for everyone to fact-check information we see online every time we are going to share it or act on it.
Authentication Beyond the Classroom
In this lesson, students discuss “viral” photos, videos and news stories that spread via social media. They are shown how challenging it is to authenticate these using only their content and are introduced to tools and techniques for gauging their accuracy based on context, with an eye towards making wise and responsible decisions about whether or not to forward them to their friends and family.