Digital Skills for Democracy: Assessing online information to make civic choices

In this activity, students :

• think about the importance of making sure they have trustworthy information before they make a decision on a political or electoral issue
• explore a series of scenarios designed to teach five strategies for verifying information: find the original, verify the source, check other information, read factchecking articles, and turn to places you trust 
• reflect on the impact of false and misleading information in politics

Those tiny hippos in your house? They’re back to teach us about ‘fake news’

Ottawa, ON – October 1, 2019

They’re cute, they steal your socks, they ride your robot vacuum… and they’re back to help us remember to not believe everything we see online. The house hippo who stole our hearts in a public service announcement in 1999 has come back to Break the Fake in a new campaign from MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy.

Technology Facilitated Violence: Criminal Case Law Lesson Plan

This lesson plan explores the relationship between technology and the law by examining how the criminal law responds to technologically facilitated violence (TFV). Not only will it enhance students’ understanding of the legal meaning of key terms such as “violence”, it will also engage them in dialogue about the surrounding social and legal issues and the ways in which new and emerging technologies are affecting the relationship between the law and technology. Through the exploration of Canadian case studies, and subsequent discussion, students will develop their knowledge on legal implications of various forms of TFV such as harassing communications, criminal harassment, unauthorized use of computer systems, non-consensual disclosure of intimate images (sometimes referred to as “revenge porn”), and hate propaganda. Students will use materials from The eQuality Project’s “Technology-Facilitated Violence: Criminal Case Law” database to research recent Canadian case law involving TFV, better understand the concept of “violence” and the wide range of acts that fall within TFV, as well as the available criminal legal resources and potential outcomes for those affected.

“Break the Fake”: Media Literacy Week starts today, promoting fact-checking and stopping the spread of misinformation

Ottawa, ON – October 7, 2019

MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) are today launching Media Literacy Week (October 7 to 11) with teachers and students, libraries and museums, and community groups across the country engaging in activities that encourage Canadians to “Break the Fake” and check information they see online before sharing it. 

Career-Life Connections 10-12

Curricular Competencies 

Students are expected to be able to do the following: 

Examine 

• Recognize personal worldviews and perspectives, and consider their influence on values, actions, and preferred futures
• Explore and evaluate personal strategies, including social, physical, and financial, to maintain well-being

Interact 

Clone of Fact checks

The following fact-checking videos have been produced by teens for teens. The viral claims they chose to fact-check touch on a range of topics from the environment, health, science and food to beauty products, social media trends and even presumed “weird” local bylaws that caught their attention.

Videos: 2024

The following fact-checking videos have been produced by teens for teens. The viral claims they chose to fact-check touch on a range of topics from the environment, health, science and food to beauty products, social media trends and even presumed “weird” local bylaws that caught their attention.

Teen Fact-Checking Network

MediaSmarts Open Call for Teen Fact-Checkers Winter-Spring 2025

MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital media literacy and a registered charity, is excited to announce that the bilingual Teen Fact-Checking Network (TFCN) program - Réseau vérif ado in Canada will be continuing into 2025! This international program was started in 2018 by MediaWise, a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative of the Poynter Institute in the U.S., and has since expanded to Brazil, Germany, India, Spain, and Bulgaria.

Staff

Learn more about our team.