Lesson video

Hello, my name's Miss Willow, and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called Fake News, and it fits into the unit Media Influence: How can I evaluate the truth online? During this lesson, we're going to be talking about discrimination, so you recommend you have an adult with you the duration of this lesson.

If at any point during this lesson you feel worried or uncomfortable, please stop the video and speak to a trusted adult.

Okay, let's make a start on today's lesson.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to describe different ways to identify fake news online and explain its effects.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These helps make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura says that we need to listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should always listen properly before we make any assumptions or before we decide how to respond.

When we disagree with someone else, it's important to challenge the statement and not the person themselves.

Next, Jacob says that we need to not have any judgment.

We can explore any beliefs and misunderstandings that we have about a topic without fear of being judged by others.

Next, Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in with discussion.

We should never put anyone on the spot.

And finally, Andeep reminds us that we need to respect each other's privacy.

We can discuss examples, but we shouldn't use any names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves.

If you want to share a story or an experience, we can refer to someone as "my friend." This means that we're not going to give away any identifying information.

We're now going to take a look at the keywords for today's lesson.

Our first keyword is disinformation.

This is articles, videos, or images that are untrue and are designed to confuse or mislead us.

Next, we have misinformation.

This is false or inaccurate information shared without intent to deceive, getting the facts wrong by mistake.

Next, we have prejudice.

This is when someone judges or dislikes others unfairly without knowing them, based on things like race, gender, or appearance.

Next, we have bias.

This is an assumption that influences how you act.

And finally, we have influence.

This is the effect that somebody or something has on the way a person thinks or behaves.

Today's lesson is fit into two learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called Is it easy to identify fake content online? And our second learning cycle is called What are the harms of believing something fake? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle, Is it easy to identify fake content online? Alex says, "I've just read an article online that says aliens are living in the UK.

There are pictures and everything." Izzy says, "Actually, not everything you read online is true.

That sounds like fake news." Fake news is the term used to describe fictional stories that spread disinformation or misinformation.

In this case, Alex has seen some fake news online.

The article Alex read is an example of disinformation.

It contains false or misleading information and was written to confuse or mislead people.

If Alex shares this article with friends online, he's spreading misinformation, as he's not aware that what he's spreading is false.

Fake news is created for various reasons: to spread an opinion and change viewpoints without the need to back it up, to make money by encouraging people to click on an article; this is known as clickbait.

Fake news is dangerous and it can fuel prejudice towards other groups in society by spreading disinformation or misinformation about them.

Lucas says that "56% of people in the UK worry about telling the difference between what is real and fake news on the internet." Fake news can appear as social media posts, videos, or photos and written text, for example, in articles.

People may access or believe disinformation published in fake news articles and then spread misinformation to others online.

People are also more likely to consume or spread fake news if it supports their point of view.

This is known as showing bias.

We are more likely to believe something that supports an opinion we already have.

Andeep has seen an article online saying "Government to ban homework." He says, "I really don't enjoy doing homework.

I'm going to share this with my friends online." Even if this is disinformation, Andeep believes it because it supports an opinion that he already has.

As a result of this, he's going to spread misinformation by sharing this article with people that he knows.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

I'd like you to decide if the statement is true or false.

People might consume and spread fake news if it supports their point of view or bias.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

It's true that people might consume and spread fake news if it supports their point of view.

Well done if you got this right.

Due to the rise in social media, news is a major part of our experience online and it's easier for anyone to share information.

However, not everything published on the internet is fact-check and approved.

Deepfakes are images, video or audio that are artificially generated, often by artificial intelligence, often called AI.

They're prevalent online.

Deepfakes often show someone doing something that they didn't do or saying something that they didn't say.

It can be hard to identify fake news and deepfakes, and anyone can fall victim to believing that they're real.

However, there are some ways to make identifying fake news and deepfakes easier.

We can spot deepfakes by looking for unusual and/or inconsistent facial details.

Examining the background carefully for unusual or unrealistic lighting or details and looking for unnatural lip movements or out of sync audio.

We can also identify deepfakes and fake news by checking the source.

Look at the quality of the content and the site that's published it.

Do you recognize the site as a reputable site? Sam says, "If it's a news article, is it well written and does it contain reputable sources?" And Jun says that "Sometimes fake news sites try to mimic real news sites.

If you're unsure, check the 'about' page and read what it says about the site." Next, it's important to check the URL.

This is the web address at the top of the browser page.

So for example, the URL of this article is www.

totally_true_news.

co.

com.

Does the address have an additional.

co.

pl or.

com at the end? If so, it's probably a fake news or unreliable site.

So this is an example of an unreliable or fake news site as we've got an extra.

co.

com at the end.

Next, it's important to look at the headline.

In order to generate clicks, fake news articles may have a dramatic, so written in all capitals, or misleading headline.

Ask yourself, does the headline match the article itself? Let's take another look at our article.

This says, "The government have said schools should give out extra homework to benefit learning." But the headline says, "Government to ban homework." The headline doesn't match the article itself, so this suggests that it's fake news.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Which of the following URLs could be from a fake news site? A: www.

realnews.

com.

co, B: www.

realnews.

com.

lo, or C: www.

realnews.

com.

Which of those do you think could be from a fake news site? Pause the video, talk to people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that A and B are correct.

Both A and B could be from fake news sites.

They have an extra.

co or.

lo at the end, which suggests that it's not a reputable news site.

Well done if you got this right.

Next, it's important to check the author.

Research the author.

Do they have other articles and do they appear on other real news sites? Sometimes bots, automated computer systems, can create news stories.

These are often old news stories reported as current or completely fabricated stories.

In this case, this article was written by news_bot.

Because this news article has been written by a bot, it's likely to be fake news.

Next, check the images.

Sometimes it's easy to identify an image that's been altered.

If you're not sure, you can ask a trusted adult to reverse image search the picture on a search engine.

Lucas says, "Sometimes photoshopped or altered images can have blurred lines or the background looks warped.

Also, if things in the image have been resized, they may appear more pixelated than the rest of the image." Next, does the news in the article appear anywhere else? If the story written on the site or posted on social media doesn't appear anywhere else, there's a high likelihood that it's fake news and contains misinformation.

Sofia says, "My friend posted online that the government is banning homework, but I can't find any other articles about it." Aisha says, "That sounds like fake news." There are also websites specifically designed to help us check whether news is true or false, and these are called fact-checking websites.

Examples of trusted fact-checking sites in the UK include: BBC Reality Check, Full Fact and Channel 4 FactCheck.

These websites investigate claims and stories to see if they're true.

We can also ask a trusted adult to help us to verify the information.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Which of the following is a sign that something is fake news? A: the author has written lots of articles, B: the website ends in.

com.

co, C: the headline was written in all capitals, or D: the article was found on a reputable news site? Which of those is a sign that something is fake news? Pause the video, talk to the people around you or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B and C are correct.

If the website ends in.

com.

co and the headline is written in all capitals, these are both signs that something could be fake news.

Well, now we've gone to our first practice task and well done for your hard work so far.

Andeep has found a news article online, how can you identify that it's from a fake news site? Can you list three ways that he can identify that this is an example of fake news? Take a look at the news article on the screen and can you decide three ways that Andeep can identify that this is an example of fake news? Pause the video and we'll go through what you might have said in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that this is a fake news site because the URL ends in an additional.

com.

The title is in all capital letters.

The content of the article doesn't match the headline.

The author isn't a real person and the image is of a fake pizza.

Well done if you got this right.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle: What are the harms of believing something fake? The things that we read online and believe to be real news can influence the way that we think and feel about the world around us.

Some fake news and deepfakes are created with what we call malicious intent.

This means that they're created with the aim to harm others or influence them in a negative way.

This is called disinformation.

This can have serious consequences as it could lead to prejudice against people in society and change the way that people treat others.

This is why it's really important to think critically about everything that we see online, especially if it makes us feel angry or upset.

These strong emotions might be exactly what the creators of disinformation want us to feel.

Reading disinformation can lead to people believing and spreading misinformation and others believing it as well.

Let's take a look at an example.

Andeep has read a fake news article online that contains disinformation.

He doesn't realize that it's fake news and he shares the misinformation online.

Sofia reads the post, she tells others about it, further spreading the misinformation.

Some disinformation is written in an attempt to create a dislike or even hatred of certain groups in society.

Stories can be written that put particular groups in a bad light.

When deepfakes are created to make it look like people have done or said something that they haven't, this can also cause people to view them in a negative way.

A consequence of reading disinformation is that it can cause prejudice.

So let's take a look at an example.

People may read a fake news article that speaks poorly of a certain group.

In this example, it says that cyclists are causing climate change.

People may then believe this and spread it to others.

In this case, Lucas sees this and he shares this with Jun.

Others may then begin to believe it and it could change the way that they see or treat these groups.

In this example, Jun says, "I would never be friends with a cyclist." Because people are believing this disinformation that cyclists are causing climate change, cyclists could start to experience prejudice.

Ms. Walsh explains that "When we use the internet and social media, we have a responsibility to others.

Just as we wouldn't spread rumors or lies about someone in person, we shouldn't do this online either.

Before we click share, we should think about how we would feel if disinformation was being spread about us or someone that we care about.

Everyone deserves to be treated with respect both online and offline." Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? Fake news can have a significant impact on real life, for example, by causing prejudice.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to people around you or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true, but why? You might have said that fake news can spread disinformation about certain groups of people, which might make others judge them unfairly or treat them differently, based on things that aren't actually true.

Well done if you had something like this.

Another consequence of fake news is that it can make it harder for people to recognize the truth.

People can become suspicious of even legitimate news sources.

Aisha says that according to the UK in the World Value Survey, "Only 13% of people in the UK trust news media." Fake news can even be harmful to your health.

Some websites publish misleading or harmful advice regarding health or stories that provide incorrect advice about managing serious illnesses.

Dr.

Elsie says, "It's important if a person is struggling with their health, they speak to a medical professional that they trust." A lot of fake news articles and posts on social media are written with bias.

This means that they're written to influence people's behavior in a certain way.

This fake news may also reinforce someone's existing bias, and so the cycle continues, with that person more likely to spread the fake news.

In this example, someone from the Anti Broccoli Group has posted something negative about broccoli.

They've said "Broccoli is actually very bad for your health.

You shouldn't eat it or buy it." This is an example of disinformation and it's also biased because it's been posted by the Anti Broccoli Group.

During major events such as elections, when every adult in the country is asked to vote for who they want in government, fake news is very common.

People may post on social media or write fake news articles containing disinformation that tries to influence people to vote a particular way.

In this example, Political Party 2 Fan has posted online saying, "Political Party 1 is going to make the school day five hours longer." Alex's granddad has seen this and he says, "This is terrible.

I can't possibly vote for them as my grandson Alex already works so hard in school." Even though this is disinformation, it's been posted online, and Alex's granddad has believed that it's true, even though it's been posted with bias by someone who's a fan of Political Party 2.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Fake news articles can blank the way people vote in elections.

Which word is missing? A: encourage, B: influence, C: prejudice, and D: introduce? Which word do you think is missing? Pause the video, talk to people around you or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the missing word is influence.

Fake news articles can influence the way people vote in elections.

Well done if you got this right.

We are now moving on to our final practice task and well done for your hard work so far.

With your learning partner, I'd like you to discuss four ways that believing fake news can cause harm.

In your conversation, I'd like you to consider the following: prejudice, bias, elections and health.

Pause the video and we'll go through a model answer in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

In your conversation, you may have mentioned that fake news can create prejudice by spreading negative disinformation about particular groups of people, which can influence the way that others treat them.

Lots of fake news is written with bias and is therefore created to make people think a particular way.

Fake news can influence important events.

When people post fake news about political parties, it can influence the way that people vote in elections, and some articles and posts online can negatively influence the way people care for themselves, and fake news sites can tell people the wrong way to manage their health.

Well done if you had some of these ideas.

We're now going to summarize the key learning in today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that fake news and deepfakes are prevalent online and many people will come across them every day.

Fake news can be seen in the form of social media posts, videos, images, and written articles.

It can be identified by checking the URL, the author, the content of the article, and searching to see if the subject of the article is mentioned anywhere else online.

It's easy to fall victims fake news and misinformation, and to believe that deepfakes are real.

Everyone can be fooled by it, and as a consequence, spread misinformation.

Fake news and deepfakes can influence people negatively.

They can support a biased opinion and encourage people to see particular groups in a negative light, which can lead to prejudice.

In today's lesson, you might find that you've got some worries or questions, and if you do, it's really important that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also some resources on the screen that are there to help you too.

Well done for your hard work today.

I hope to see you again soon.