In May 2025, the “SME Spolu” civil society organization held five interactive media literacy lessons titled “Think Critically: The Internet Doesn't Always Tell the Truth” with the students at the Ukrainian School in Evacuation in Bratislava, Slovakia. A total of 52 teenagers from grades 7–11 joined the sessions, which combined discussion, examples from the media, group work, and real-world news analysis. The same lesson format and materials were later used in Romania by the organization called “Association MALVA”, engaging 26 more displaced Ukrainian teenagers.

The project was designed around interaction and critical thinking. Instead of lectures, students discussed, debated, and explored how manipulation works. Through memes, viral content, and political headlines, they uncovered techniques used to influence opinion or mislead audiences.

The sessions included a group task: analyzing recent news articles from various sources and classifying them as real, misleading, or false. This simple, but powerful, activity helped them turn abstract concepts into practical skills.

"I used to think fake news is something obvious. Now I realize it can look very real. It made me rethink what I usually scroll past,"

- Ihor Zhuperkov, an 11th-grade student from the Ukrainian School in Evacuation.

Challenges faced

The main challenge was balancing the content to suit different levels of prior knowledge and digital experience. Some students were already familiar with basic media concepts, while others encountered terms like "disinformation" or "fact-checking" for the first time.

Achievements and impact

The sessions made students more confident in identifying manipulation, questioning sources, and reflecting on their own online behavior. Many showed initiative in helping peers interpret content, and some expressed interest in continuing the online Hive Mind self-paced course on countering disinformation via the QR code provided.

The sessions have showed how much can change when young people are given the tools and space to question the information around them. The title of the lesson, "Think Critically: The Internet Doesn't Always Tell the Truth", became a lived experience at the end.

Conclusion

The MEGAPHONE Grant, received by the CSOs after the November 2024 edition of the event, held as a part of the “Digital Activism Accelerator” initiative coordinated by TechSoup and supported by Google.org, has enabled direct work with displaced Ukrainian youth and gave them a chance to strengthen their digital resilience. Media literacy became not just a topic, but a skill set.

🔗 Want to test your media awareness? Try the free Hive Mind self-paced course on countering disinformation and see how well you can spot it!

About the organization

“Sme Spolu” is a community-based civil society organization supporting displaced Ukrainians in Slovakia through education, integration support, and civil society projects. Learn more at smespolu.org.

This initiative was carried out thanks to the MEGAPHONE Grant received after the 2024 edition of the event, as a part of the Digital Activism Accelerator project, coordinated by TechSoup and Partners, with support from Google.org. The project belongs to a broader TechSoup's Digital Activism Program portfolio.

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Credits: Photo by the SME Spolu team