75% of young people in Europe cannot tell real news from fake news

Some 75% of young people between the age of 15 and 24 in Europe admit that they cannot tell real news from fake news, said Mariya Gabriel, the EU commissioner for digital economy and digital society. On 18^th of March, Mariya Gabriel and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova were guests of the discussion "Sofia and Europe for the Young - 3D Democracy, Dialogue and Debate", which was held in 18^th school in Sofia.

Gabriel paid special attention to the fact that fake news have two very negative impacts.

"On the one hand, they ruin the trust between people as well as between people and institutions. On the other hand, their strength is that they affect emotions. It is no coincidence that our research has shown that the three topics on which fake news have the greatest impact on in Europe are: health, the environment and migration," she said.

Mariya Gabriel stressed that it is very important to say also that there is no miracle recipe for for dealing with disinformation.

"The truth is that fake news have always existed, from ancient times, but what is new now is the speed at which they get disseminated and the scale they have," she said. The Commissioner recalled that EC clearly said they needed action at several levels at the same time.

The first meeting - videoconference for the project "Sofia and Europe for the Young - 3D - Democracy, Dialogue and Debate" was held at 18th school "William Gladstone" in Sofia. It was attended by the Bulgarian Commissioner for Digital Economy and Digital Society, Mriya Gabriel. The project is implemented by the Ethnopalitra Foundation in partnership with the Vazrazhdane District, the 18th school "William Gladstone" and the 32th school "St. Kliment Ohridski" with the financial support of the Europe Program 2019 of Sofia Municipality.

Mariya Gabriel told the young people that they were actually launching the first European week of media literacy. She explained that this is a new EC initiative she has proposed.

"Our goal is that this week, March 18-22, across Europe, to draw attention to media literacy, to see how we can still learn what we need to learn to distinguish the truth from the untruth, to critically appreciate the vast amount of information, which is everywhere around us. There will be such events all over Europe, and it is a great honour for us here, together with you, to launch the European Week of Media Literacy in Bulgaria," she said.