Abstract:

Nowadays, due to shocking recent events worldwide and the flexibility and rapidity of information that the internet offers to citizens, misinformation and manipulation of the public opinion is an increasing phenomenon and a real problem.

The purpose of this study is to examine and discuss the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of young future teachers regarding misinformation on the internet. The research questions of the study concern the degree of confidence in the information and news that young future teachers find on the internet, the frequency of misinformation and fake news they encounter, the skills they possess in checking the credibility and validity of news as well as their beliefs of the extent of the phenomenon in their country and its impact on democracy in general. The study was quantitative research using a questionnaire as a research tool. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: demographic data, a set of fifteen (15) questions with answers in a five-point Likert scale concerning participants’ knowledge, behaviors and attitudes, a set of six (6) questions with multiple answers related with participants’ knowledge, behaviors and attitudes and a quiz of four (4) related with the validity of news on the internet questions.

The findings of the study showed that future teachers prefer social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc.) gain information as they seem to trust social media more than TV and portals/websites. They think that they often face news and information with unreliable data or misrepresenting the reality of a situation or an event. They do not feel able to successfully evaluate the validity of news in posts. They think that they are not skilled enough and do not know about techniques to critically and correctly distinguish the validity of current news. Most participants are not aware of or use websites that identify and check fake news and its sources. Future teachers agree that the phenomenon of misinformation is intense in their country, and they believe that inaccurate news or disinformation distorts reality and has a significant impact on democracy and society in general.

Keywords:

Fake news, Disinformation, social media, Identifying Fake News Sources, Digital literacy.