Teenagers often see conspiracy theories on social networks

(TNS) — Now, it’s not just your co-worker or socially awkward uncle who is inclined to believe the Earth is flat or the deep state exists: A new survey by the nonprofit News Literacy Project found that 81 percent of teenagers believe in at least one conspiracy theory.

An October 21 study of a representative sample of 1,110 13- to 18-year-olds found that half see conspiracy theories online once a week or more, and most are unable to accurately distinguish between different types of news and information sources, such as here are articles and news.

The findings are part of a growing trend of both intentional (misinformation) and unintentional misinformation (disinformation) on the Internet, leading to the rise of conspiracy theories related to politics, health and science, and accompanied by the collapse of traditional models of journalism.

There is also evidence that information overload can increase anxiety, depression and feelings of helplessness.

Because of this changing landscape, it’s critical to teach students media literacy skills, Kim Bowman, senior research manager at the News Literacy Project and co-author of the study, said in a news release about the report.

“These (social media) platforms are home to harmful conspiracy theories, and our findings show that American teenagers are no exception to their influence or potential influence,” she said. “We need to do everything we can so that young people know how to protect themselves from fakes.”

But only three states currently require news literacy instruction, according to Media Literacy Now and the News Literacy Project, and six more have standards but don’t mandate classes. Pennsylvania does not fall into either of these categories.

Peter Adams, senior vice president of research and development at the News Literacy Project and another co-author of the study, sees knowledge and learning as a human right.

“If you don’t provide that information, you leave them at the mercy of trolls and propaganda,” he said. “We feel we owe it to these students to help them learn to navigate (the online world) responsibly.”

While teens spend an average of five hours a day on social media (according to one 2023 Gallup poll), they aren’t necessarily better at distinguishing truth from fiction than adults.

The report found that only 18% were able to correctly identify a branded content article, published publication and sponsored advertisement, and only 30% correctly identified the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment. In the breakdown by age groups, older teenagers performed these tasks no better than younger ones.

The lack of instructions combined with hours of scrolling online can lead to widespread mistrust of the news. Teens were asked which outlets they trusted, and they were three times more likely to trust TikTok than their local newspaper.

Almost half said journalists do more harm to democracy than good, and reported that news articles show high levels of bias and are no more trustworthy than other online content creators.

Learning needs to happen at a much faster rate, said Matt Werich, founder and CEO of The Disinformation Project, a nonprofit that helps teens get resources to analyze disinformation on their own. “We’re way behind because we haven’t even scratched the surface of this,” he said.

Good news? There is evidence that media literacy training works.

“We found positive associations with news literacy and healthy news habits, as well as increased trust in news sources,” Bowman said.

Teenagers also overwhelmingly want media literacy to be taught in schools. Although 39% reported ever receiving media literacy instruction, 94% said they wanted to. Bowman was surprised by these findings.

“I expected to find some support, but 94% is a huge number,” she said. “It seems important to them and they see the value of it in their education.”

The report highlights the value of helping students be more engaged, Adams said.

Chris Coward, a senior fellow at the University of Washington who studies misinformation and media literacy and co-founded the Center for an Informed Public — but he’s comforted by how many people want media literacy to be taught directly.

Coward and his team believe that learning is best done collaboratively, not just in the classroom.

In 2020, he created Loki’s Loop, a disinformation quest room that anyone can download and participate in. Players are asked to navigate between true and false information and solve puzzles to “exit” the room. In one step, players can inadvertently share an in-depth fake video, and then the game explains where the user went wrong. Players discuss what they’ve learned and how it relates to their own lives later — as opposed to sitting down for more formal instruction.

“The game tries to teach that we’re all vulnerable,” he said. “You have to be aware of your own susceptibility.”

In addition to the quest room, which anyone 14 and up can provide, Coward has also co-developed entertainment for children, such as Minecraft-related lessons and how-to videos on artificial intelligence.

Children may be more aware than adults of fraudulent technologies because they are more exposed to them: for example, many regularly use the FaceTune app to change subtle facial features before posting photos on Instagram, or they swipe to add a face filter on Snapchat before sending to friends.

“In a way, kids are more aware of the technology that tricks you,” Coward said.

But they also struggle with paralysis and complacency due to the overwhelming amount of information they encounter every day.

“The information environment is changing very quickly,” Adams said. “Students are seeing a lot more information than their parents, grandparents ever saw.”

And the findings about trust in the news and democracy were of particular concern to Adams.

“A lot of teenagers don’t understand the role of a free press,” he said. “Teenagers don’t just automatically know these things just because they use social media. These skills and habits need to be taught.”

While the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington is creating games for students, the News Literacy Project is writing educational programs for teachers and educators that will be free to access. The organization said it has worked with more than 3,500 teachers in Pennsylvania since it was founded in 2008, including more than 1,000 last year alone.

And the Misinformation Project works to involve children outside the classroom, in the extracurricular clubs they run. Children are more inclined to deal with themselves than with their teachers, Verych said. The organization works with school clubs for projects like making a giant tree in the hallway with leaves that point to healthy social media habits.

“Teenagers are really interested in not being manipulated,” Verych said. “But they have to understand that first. If you come to them and say, ‘You should be reading newspapers instead of TikTok,’ they don’t understand what the problem is.”

It’s not just about dispelling specific online myths, but about giving kids the tools to understand why and how false and misinformation manifests itself, Coward said.

“These are social issues, and it has to do with who’s in your network,” he said. “The problem is not in the detection itself, but in making sense of this new environment.”