- November 03, 2021
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- November 05, 2021
From November, 3 to 5, 2021, the Aspen Institute Germany organized a digital student conference on the topic “(Social) Media in Times of Global Crises? How to build trust and distinguish fake news from facts”. Our digital conference taught students from Berlin, Dresden and Silicon Valley in California how to deal competently with misinformation and conspiracy theories, how to expose them and how to counteract them in a targeted manner.
The current topics of climate change, health and COVID-19, racism and structural discrimination were discussed in connection with media literacy in a transatlantic context.
The young generation of 14 to 19 year olds experienced numerous changes and turbulences in recent years. Exemplarily, the Fridays For Future demonstrations, the Black Lives Matter movement, lateral thinking and electoral influence through social media and fake news campaigns have shaped recent times. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated the shift of public debates and discourses to the digital space. Keeping track of current events and developments in the information jungle and distinguishing facts and trustworthy information from fake news has become a challenge for many people. Simultaneously, targeted false information and conspiracy theories are spreading rapidly on social media. Against this background, adolescents and young adults are particularly at risk because they often only consume their news via social media. Therefore, media competence and the ability to analyze the credibility of information are of crucial importance.
Our event brought together interested and committed students between 14 and 19 with high-ranking diplomats, politicians, renowned scientists, respected media representatives and journalists for a lively and interactive exchange via zoom.
We sincerely would like to thank the US Embassy in Berlin for their kind support.
