Online Propaganda and the Proliferation of Hate

In this lesson students learn about the ways that propaganda techniques are used to promote hatred and intolerance online.

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.

Responses and Solutions in the Classroom

There are two main strategies for addressing online hate and cultures of hatred in the classroom: teaching youth to recognize and deconstruct it, and empowering them to intervene by answering back to it.

What do you meme it’s not legal?

My daughter – age 14 – is all about Instagram. It’s her primary source of entertainment: if she’s on her phone, she’s likely looking at memes or laughing at silly posts made by her friends. It’s also the main way she communicates with them, as they use its messaging service much more than things like texting or video chat.

Managing conversations about elections and the media as a parent

Ontario is currently in an election campaign and the entire country will have a federal election at some point this year as well (the exact date is yet to be determined).  As a parent, elections pose a valuable time to have discussions with kids about the privilege of voting, the ways democracy works, how the Canadian government functions, how political advertising works, why sharing accurate info about politics matters and more. 

AI is a hot topic

Students and educators are already having to deal with artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications on schoolwork, assignments and lessons. When writing an essay, or when completing a school project, generative AI tools like ChatGPT can maybe speed up the results, save time and craft the correct response. Is that a good thing or are we causing more issues for our futures?

Taming copycats

The issue of copyright is one that many of us probably know a little bit about.  Copying is stealing – and stealing is bad - but it can still be a grey area in a social media world which is very PRO sharing.

Helping kids authenticate information online

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

Connected to Learn: Teachers' Experiences with Networked Technologies in the Classroom

For more than twenty-five years, Canadian teachers have been at the forefront of getting students online and preparing them to use the Internet in safe, wise and responsible ways. Thanks to the SchoolNet program in the 1990s, many young Canadians had their first experiences with networked technologies in their classrooms and school libraries. However, MediaSmarts' recent Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III study shows that even now, our so-called "digital natives" still need guidance from their teachers.

Become Aware of Your Own Biases

One of the hardest things about being a responsible sharer is to be aware of your own biases, the reasons why you might be more likely to believe something without evidence. These are aspects of the way we think that can lead us to accept false statements, reject true ones, or simply not ask enough questions.