Introduction
Learn to identify disinformation and misinformation with games and courses collated by the Commons Library. Disinformation is often intentionally confusing! Having creative ways to learn can help you prepare for the real life battle around truth and meaning.
Prevention, not cure, may be a more effective way to combat misinformation. – Source
Games
Harmony Square is a political disinformation game about fake news. The game’s setting is the idyllic Harmony Square, a small neighborhood mildly obsessed with democracy. You, the player, are hired as Chief Disinformation Officer. Over the course of 4 short levels, your job is to disturb the square’s peace and quiet by fomenting internal divisions and pitting its residents against each other. It is available in multiple languages. This game was designed as part of a collaboration between DROG, Gusmanson Design and Cambridge University.
Bad News
Bad News is a fake news misinformation game. You take on the role of a fake news-monger. Drop all pretense of ethics and choose a path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. But keep an eye on your ‘followers’ and ‘credibility’ meters. Your task is to get as many followers as you can while slowly building up fake credibility as a news site. But watch out: you lose if you tell obvious lies or disappoint your supporters! It is available in multiple languages. This game was designed as part of a collaboration between DROG, Gusmanson Design and Cambridge University.
A game to help you be better informed about fake news and other forms of misinformation. It is a simulation-style game where players take on the role of someone creating and distributing fake news for profit. This game was designed by Amanda Warner.
PolitiTruth: A PolitiFact Game
PolitiTruth is a non-profit game of distinguishing political fact from fiction. The game is made in partnership with the Pulitzer Prize winning organization PolitiFact in the hopes of encouraging players to better discern sources of information while gathering beneficial statistics on public misconceptions.
Troll Factory shows you first-hand how information operations work on social media. The goal of the game is to illustrate how fake news, emotive content and bot armies are utilized to affect moods, opinions and decision-making. Designed by Finnish Public Broadcasting Company, Yle.
Courses
Fighting Disinformation, SOGI Campaigns
This detailed course will introduce activists worldwide to this urgent issue. In this course, activists will learn to understand the mechanics of disinformation, and take fast and effective action to challenge disinformation and maybe even prevent it. This online course aims to give you tools to:
- Engage in actions that might prevent future disinformation
- Identify disinformation, and how and why it works
- Define a strategy to respond effectively in your situation
This course is free.
Countering Disinformation, HiveMind
In this course we will learn how to distinguish between various types of disinformation and avoid traps such as echo chambers, polarization or propaganda. Moreover, we will share with you the essential knowledge and tools to tackle disinformation more effectively, e.g., microtargeting and persuasive communication strategies, or how to build powerful stories and narratives. Finally, the ambition is that you will become aware and learn how to become resilient ‘when they come for you’.
This course goes for 40-60 mins and is free.
Infoshield. Resilience to Disinformation Course, Debunk.org
Essential skills to navigate the information landscape confidently with three simple steps. You will get a set of short articles (stories), videos, and quizzes.We will cover a multitude of topics:
- How disinformation works.
- What bots and trolls are.
- How artificial intelligence can be used to manipulate you, and many more!
This course is free.
Combatting Disinformation, Social Movement Technologies
All of us face the effects of disinformation in our work. This is false information that is deliberately distributed to mislead, influence public opinion and obscure the truth. Sometimes this is speech that is divisive and abusive; sometimes it’s false narratives designed to manipulate and mislead. All of us are well aware that social media algorithms have intensified the virality of disinformation. And now A.I. is making it easy to create fake content for these campaigns.
This course focuses on how to combat disinformation and is available in English with subtitles in English, Français, Español, Português, عربي, and Bahasa Indonesia.
What is covered:
- How to spot disinformation targeting our communities and networks, particularly how to conduct social listening to identify narrative patterns getting a high response
- Examples of effective counter-narrative campaigns developed in real campaigns worldwide
- Examples of organizing quick response networks to combat disinformation
- How to train members to combat disinformation and what has been learned about effective ways to engage online
- How to use social media platforms’ complaint channels; its usefulness and limits
- A template for developing your organization’s Combatting Disinformation Plan
This course has a registration cost: $90 for organizations in North America & Western Europe; $50 for organizations outside of North America & Western Europe.