The Ferret partners with CILIPS and Young Scot to combat online disinformation
CILIP Scotland are pleased to announce that we will be part of a new partnership project with Young Scot led by The Ferret and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.
Young people in Scotland will be empowered to identify and challenge disinformation online thanks to a brand new project from The Ferret, funded by the National Lottery Fund.
Working in partnership with the professional body for librarians and information professionals in Scotland, CILIPS, and Scotland’s youth information organisation Young Scot, The Ferret will provide youth-designed training for librarians and young people across the country, enabling them to better engage with those at significant risk from disinformation online.
Young people are bombarded with false information from an early age online, particularly through social media. This can have negative consequences on trust, self esteem, mental and physical health, and can fuel radicalization. Recent statistics from Ipsos UK found 77 per cent of 16 to 34-year-olds find that fake news is prevalent in online news from influencers, while a US survey revealed that teens were more likely to believe online conspiracies compared with adults.
Our 12-month collaboration aims to tackle this through a series of sessions and online tools created alongside young people. Roundtable events will allow the project partners to collaborate with those affected by mis- and disinformation online. Experts from The Ferret’s fact-checking arm, Ferret Fact Service, will then develop training informed by the experiences of these groups.
This will then be rolled out in a series of collaborative workshops with librarians in different settings across the country, empowering them to deliver training sessions to young people themselves. The training will be focused on spotting mis- and disinformation, navigating online spaces responsibly in an age of fake news and AI, and will encourage young people to become digital champions of accurate information in their own communities. Stay tuned to CILIPS’ blog and social media channels to find out how to get involved with these workshops!
This project is possible thanks to a generous grant from the National Lottery Community Fund.