Young people in Romania are strongly affected by fake news on the Internet and social networks. Only 15% verify the information
Only 15% of young people in Romania verify the information they find on the Internet, according to Eurostat. More than 40% admit to having shared fake news on social media at least once.
Specialists talk about a general knowledge of the Internet, and recommend that young people check the sources thoroughly and resort more often to the library, especially to dictionaries and encyclopedias.
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Young person: "I get my information from Google".
Reporter: But do you go to other sources to see if what you find on Google is accurate?
Young person: "Yes, on TikTok".
Social media platforms are today the main source of news, but they are often flooded with unfiltered information. Many young people admit that, out of convenience and too much trust, they choose to take for granted everything they find online, without verifying it first.
"It also depends on the subject, but we usually trust it. Nowadays, convenience comes first and it’s much easier to get on the phone and look for it", confessed a young person.
"I mainly live by the principle that I only believe half of it. I believe the idea, but I verify the details", someone else explained.
In Romania, only 15% of the people aged 16 to 29 check the authenticity of the content found on the Internet. A small percentage compared to Finland or the Netherlands, where over 60% of young people are careful with the information they find online.
Matei Psatta - Digital Marketing Specialist: "You must have a general knowledge of the Internet to figure out what is likely to be valid or not. Now that everyone has access to the Internet and there are so many ways to fake things, it is imperative to know where you stand to avoid falling victim".
Like many of his generation, he used the English term "to fake (manipulate)".
We have also asked an academic for her opinion on the valid sources we should check out.
Georgeta Filitti - Member of the Romanian Academy: "It’s very hard to say. There is no baggage of authentic knowledge that I can recommend. It is about education. And the seriousness with which you approach a subject, when you are not ashamed to check, for example, in a dictionary".
2 years ago, the European Commission sent out guidelines and practical advice to students and teachers to persuade them to check information and think critically.
