- November 03, 2021
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- November 05, 2021
From November 3 to 5, 2021, Aspen Institute Germany hosted a digital school conference on the topic of (Social) Media in Times of Global Crises: How to build trust and distinguish fake news from facts. The digital conference aimed to teach students from Berlin, Dresden, and California’s Silicon Valley how to deal competently with false information and conspiracy theories, how to debunk them, and how to counter them in a targeted manner.
The current topics of climate change, health and COVID-19, racism and structural discrimination are discussed in connection with media competence in a transatlantic context. The younger generation has witnessed many changes and turbulences in recent years. Crises, demonstrations and movements, such as Fridays For Future and the Black Lives Matter movement have all been largely influenced by social media and been subject to fake news. The COVID-19 pandemic also dramatically accelerated the shift of public debate and discourse into the digital space. It is challenging to keep track of current events and developments in the digital world and even more difficult to distinguish between information that is trustworthy and information that is not. Against this backdrop, adolescents and young adults in particular are at high risk, as they often consume their news exclusively via social media. Media literacy and the ability to analyze the credibility of information is therefore crucial.
The closed event brought together interested and engaged students between 14 and 19 years of age with high-ranking politicians, renowned scientists, respected media representatives and journalists for a lively and interactive exchange via Zoom.
We would like to thank the U.S. Embassy in Berlin for their kind support.
