A recent discovery was a course developed to help young people identify fake news.
The idea is that this is pre-bunking rather than debunking. The phrase vaccination is used.
In Bad News, you take on the role of fake news-monger. Drop all pretence 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!
How does the game work?
The goal of the game is to expose the tactics and manipulation techniques that are used to mislead people and build up a following. Bad News works as a psychological “vaccine” against disinformation: playing it builds cognitive resistance against common forms of manipulation that you may encounter online.
Scientists who worked with us on the development of this game found that playing Bad News improves people’s ability to spot manipulation techniques in social media posts, increases their confidence in spotting such techniques, and reduces their willingness to share manipulative content with people in their network. You can read more about the science behind the game here.
Who should play this game?
Bad news was written with an audience in mind of ages 14 and up. The game contains minor references to mild forms of violence (including rude language on a fictional social media network, although no swear words are used), but doesn’t feature content that is likely to be perceived as graphically shocking. While the game does contain some references to real-world events, its scenarios are entirely fictional. Effort has been made to make the game as inclusive as possible, and it can be enjoyed by players from all backgrounds.
This game was developed as a publicly accessible media literacy tool. We encourage its use in educational settings as well. For this reason, we developed an info sheet that contains more information about how the game was developed, its scientific background, and how to use it in a classroom setting.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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