How to spot and fight disinformation : toolkit for teachers.
Date: 2024-06-09
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communication
Subjects: Internet, advertising malpractice, consumer behaviour, disinformation, impact of information technology, political propaganda, search engine, secondary education, self-regulation, social behaviour, social media, teacher, user guide

Toolkit 
for teachers
How to spot and 
fight disinformation

This document should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s 
official position. 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2024

© European Union, 2024 

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ISBN 978-92-68-13971-4 

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONCONTENT

1.  Introduction 

2.  Notes on the presentation 

3.  Case studies 

Case study #1 The growing influence of ‘Q’ 

Case study #2 Careful! Health news headlines can be deceiving 

Case Study #3 Are birds real? 

Case study #4 Social media discussion of elections 

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1.  Introduction

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION

This toolkit aims to give secondary teachers 
resources in order to start conversations with their 
students about the important questions raised by the 
spread of false information, and more specifically 
disinformation. This has become an increasing 
problem in recent years. These relate to health, 
democracy, the environment, and the cultural and 
legal norms underpinning our societies. 

There are no easy answers to many of these 
questions and the aim of these materials is not 
simply to teach students what is true and what 
is false, but to get them thinking about how 
information is presented and what motivations 

those spreading false or misleading information 
might have. They will learn about the strategies 
that propagators of disinformation often use to 
manipulate their audience, about how they as media 
consumers can avoid being deceived, and about how 
to talk to people who have fallen for disinformation.

Educators are a key part of the conversation on 
disinformation. For more resources on how to design 
lessons on disinformation and digital literacy more 
generally, have a look at Guidelines for teachers and 
educators on tackling disinformation and promoting 
digital literacy through education and training 
published by the European Commission.

ACCESS THE TOOLKIT PRESENTATION  
BY CLICKING HERE

AVAILABLE TOOLKIT CONTENT

• 

• 

Introductory presentation (in PPT format)
•  The embedded YouTube videos are in English/Russian, but translated transcripts are available
•  Explanations and descriptions are available in the Notes section under each slide

4 workgroup case studies with discussion questions (pages 15-18 of this document).

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONWHAT IS IT FOR

HOW TO USE IT 

This toolkit is designed to introduce young people 
to the phenomenon of disinformation – conveying 
an understanding of the threats it poses, explaining 
how students can protect themselves from it, and 
providing an opportunity to look in more depth at 
particular examples. The toolkit is open and free to 
use for any educational establishment. Although it 
can be adjusted and tailored for other age groups, 
the main target group is teenagers from 15 to 18 
years old.

The toolkit is designed to cover 1 or 2 lessons for an 
average secondary school class. 

The PowerPoint presentation includes links to several 
videos. For a single lesson, just 1 or 2 of these 
should be enough to get the main points across – 
you can use the others if you have time, or want to 
spread the material over multiple lessons. We leave 
it to the teacher’s discretion to decide which videos 
would best fit a particular class and generate the 
most interesting discussions.

WHAT IS DISINFORMATION?

The Guidelines for teachers and educators define disinformation as ‘verifiably false or misleading information 
that is created, presented, and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public’. 
Misinformation is ‘verifiably false information that is spread without the intention to mislead’.

This toolkit focuses on helping students to spot manipulative techniques and to develop the skills to assess 
information themselves. You can find more information on definitions in the Guidelines linked above and on 
EUvsDisinfo’s Learn section.

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONRECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

ACTIVITY

MINIMUM TIME

SUGGESTED MATERIAL

Presentation on understanding 
disinformation (slides 1-21)

35 minutes

PowerPoint presentation, 
video transcripts, interactive 
discussion

Group work (groups of 5-6 max) 
(slide 23)

15-25 minutes

Case studies (and PowerPoint 
presentation as reference)

Group presentations 
& discussion

25 minutes for each group

Case studies

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2.  Notes on the 
presentation

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTES ON THE PRESENTATION
If you have more time available, you could extend 
the section on ‘How does disinformation work’ (e.g. 
by spending more time looking at external sources 
and discussing the different examples with the 
students) or devote more time to the group work. 
You can also use the Commission’s Guidelines for 
teachers and educators on tackling disinformation 
and promoting digital literacy through education and 
training to design more activities.

It is important to emphasise that freedom of 
expression is a core value in European society. The 
aim of this lesson is not to teach students what 
they’re ‘allowed’ to say, but to raise their awareness 
of how to think critically in general and more 
specifically how to avoid being manipulated by 

people or organisations that spread false information 
in order to undermine trust in democracy, in science 
and in the institutions that we all have a stake in. 
Strong, independent media and a healthy democracy, 
where many different voices and views are heard, 
are also key to avoiding disinformation, so the point 
is not to reduce freedom of speech but to increase 
it, by teaching students to recognise when they are 
being manipulated.

We don’t recommend using the term ‘fake 
news’, because it is sometimes used to criticise 
independent media.

NB: Disinformation is a sensitive topic and you may prefer to use the alternative examples 
offered on page 12 below if they suit your students better. Likewise, you may find other case 
studies more suited to your students or you could ask them to identify other case studies 
themselves, as a group task.

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONINTRODUCTION slides 1-2

The aim here is just to get students thinking about disinformation.

WHAT IS DISINFORMATION? slides 3-8

•  Why might someone spread untrue 

information?

• This is a good opportunity for active discussion.

• False information is not necessarily spread only 
for the purpose of disinformation. 

•  Humour can easily be mistaken for real news, 

especially if it comes from a platform or a culture 
you’re not familiar with.

• 

• 

Similarly, it is easy to fall for misinformation 
when one feels uncertainty or fear when 
facing new technology (e.g. 5G/6G technology) 
or a possible threat to ones life or health 
(e.g. COVID-19). This is why various impact 

assessment studies are carried out, for example, 
before new technologies or medicines are placed 
on the market. However, such studies take time 
and in the meantime stories may spread, because 
people believe they are true and do not realise 
they are unintentionally deceiving and possibly 
even harming others (see slide 7).

In some cases, false stories may also be spread 
intentionally to deceive people, in which case we 
speak of disinformation. The perpetrators may 
use many different techniques, such as emotional 
manipulation, to elicit strong emotions and 
distract from the truth  for example, by engaging 
an actor to pose as a victim of a situation 
(see slide 8).

The objective here is to make students understand how easily one can be mistaken  - no one is invincible 
and thinking that you’re `too smart to be fooled’ will actually make you more vulnerable.

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONHOW DOES DISINFORMATION WORK?  
slides 9-14

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

An open, tolerant society is much more 
resistant to disinformation and other forms of 
manipulation; disinformation is used to divide 
people and exaggerate internal differences and 
existing conflicts or controversies.

Disinformation-spreaders aim to flood the 
information space, so that we become so 
confused or overwhelmed that we no longer know 
who to trust, and they use several techniques.

Disinformation can spread very easily on social 
media - clickbait, bots, fake stories and more.

Deepfakes – AI can be used to create convincing 
fake footage or imagery. (video)  
More information on deepfakes here.

Traditional media are also being used for 
disinformation, as illustrated by the example  of 
Russia Today, a Russian state media platform 
that has been suspended from broadcasting in 
the EU.

A short video shows how imagery can be used 
out of context to create a false narrative. (video)

HOW TO RESPOND TO DISINFORMATION slides 15-20

• 

Take your time when responding to 
disinformation – don’t give in to the urge to 
respond immediately, but take time to fact-check 
and consider possible explanations.

•  How to fact-check – some questions to ask 

yourself when you come across something that 
looks like disinformation and some resources that 
can help you check if a story has already been 
shown to be false by professional fact-checkers.

•  How to talk to people you know 

about disinformation.

WHAT IS THE EU DOING? slide 21

• 

• 

Find out more about EU action against online 
disinformation here.

You can find the European Commission on 
Instagram, Facebook and X (Twitter).

• 

• 

The European Parliament is on Instagram, 
Facebook and X (Twitter).

Find out about the latest disinformation and 
the real story on EUvsDisinfo.eu (or on YouTube, 
Facebook or X (Twitter)).

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONWORK IN GROUPS, DISCUSSING SOME TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF FALSE 
INFORMATION slide 23

Split the class into groups of maximum 5-6 students. Assign a case study to each group. 
Allow around 15 minutes for students to read the case study and go through the questions, 
then another 20-25 minutes for presentations by each group and discussion among the class.

• 

• 

A dangerous new conspiracy theory that has 
given rise to a cult-like movement now rapidly 
spreading in Europe

• 

• 

Are birds real? A parody conspiracy theory

Social media posts about elections

Unethical and misleading advertising about 
‘incredibly effective’ medicine X

Note that not all case studies are examples of disinformation, but all are relevant to 
developing students’ skills in navigating unreliable information. 

NB: These examples are presented as ready-to-use materials, but you may find other 
case studies more suited to your students, or you can ask them to identify case studies 
themselves, as a group task. Things like conspiracy theories (e.g. governments spread 
COVID-19, aliens in Area 51, etc.), false health information, fake facts about minority 
groups… It may also be useful to allow students to do some quick online research on the 
case studies provided, so that they can see for themselves what information is out there. 
For inspiration, have a look at the sources listed on slides 19 and 20.

SUMMARY, TIPS FOR FINDING OUT MORE AND NATIONAL RESOURCES slides 24-26

ALTERNATIVE EXAMPLES

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Deepfake appears to show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia

Satirical article about Vatican saying Jesus will not return reported as fact on US website

German police accused of staging fake arrest of Greta Thunberg - Link 1 

German police accused of staging fake arrest of Greta Thunberg - Link 2

Fake screenshot of Irish newspaper report on ‘asymptomatic global warming’

Claims that images of lights in the sky over Hawaii prove wildfires were started by lasers

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

• 

• 

• 

The Earth is flat
Conspiracy theories about the death of Princess Diana
Elvis is still alive

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATION 
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3.  Case studies

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE STUDY #1  
THE GROWING INFLUENCE OF ‘Q’

What do former U.S. President Barack Obama, former 
U.S. Secretary of State and presidential candidate 
Hillary Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron, 
singer Lady Gaga, the pizza restaurant Comet Ping 
Pong in Washington D.C., Microsoft founder Bill 
Gates and actor Tom Hanks all have in common? 
According to the adherents of the QAnon conspiracy 
theory, they are all part of a Satan-worshiping, 
child trafficking ring involving celebrities, political 
and business elites; U.S. President Donald Trump 
was allegedly recruited by military generals to 
expose this network and end their control over the 
government and the media, also referred to as ‘the 
deep state’. The theory is spread by an anonymous 
online figure using the codename ‘Q’, who claims 
to be a high-ranking official in the U.S. government 
with top security clearance giving them access to 
classified information.

QAnon emerged in fringe online message boards 
like 4chan and 8chan in 2017, and it has gained 
prominence since then on various social media 
platforms. A key characteristic of QAnon that 
has enabled its rapid spread is its participatory 
character: ‘Q’ regularly posts clues on message 
boards (also known as ‘Q Drops’), inviting followers 
to conduct their own research to solve the mystery 
and get to the truth behind the different theories. 
Since late 2019, QAnon has made its way into 
European websites and social media pages and 
has morphed into local movements adapting to 
local narratives and contexts, primarily in Germany, 
France, Italy and the UK. Existing groups too, like far-
right movements in Germany, have adopted QAnon 
narratives in some cases. The powerful ‘deep state’ 

that lies at the heart of Q’s narratives supposedly 
knows no borders: European politicians and elites 
like Emmanuel Macron have also been described as 
‘pawns of the deep state’ by local QAnon followers, 
and there have been accusations that the German 
government is running a secret paedophilia network. 

Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic made 
things even worse. People were stuck at home, 
spending much more time on the internet, and 
they were often dissatisfied with 
their government’s restrictions 
and measures to deal with 
the outbreak (masks, social 
distancing, lockdowns and 
travel restrictions). In this 
context, QAnon narratives 
ranged from theories 
that the coronavirus is 
a biological weapon 
released by ‘the 
deep state’, to 
Bill Gates 
allegedly 
having 
planned the 
pandemic 
in order to 
impose mass 
vaccinations 
and control the 
world population. 

You can also 
watch this video 
about QAnon.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Can you identify a common theme behind the QAnon narratives spreading 

in the US and Europe?

2.  What makes the QAnon movement ‘appealing’ to followers? What makes 

it different from other conspiracy theories?

3.  Can you identify other moments in history, critical events that have triggered 
similar waves of conspiracy theories and disinformation across continents? 
What do they all have in common?

4.  From our previous discussion about the objectives of disinformation actors, 
how do you think QAnon narratives can be used by foreign powers to target 
Europe and make it look weaker?

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONCASE STUDY #2  
CAREFUL! HEALTH NEWS HEADLINES CAN BE DECEIVING

By Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, 
Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board 
Member, Harvard Health Publishing. November 2021.

treatment!’ blares the headline. Sure, that could 
happen someday, but it’s an overstatement when 
the study wasn’t even assessing treatment.

•  Overlooking the most important outcome. 

Rather than examining how a treatment 
affects heart disease, let’s say, studies may 
assess how it affects a risk factor for it. A good 
example is cholesterol. It’s great if a drug lowers 
cholesterol, but much better if it lowers the rate 
of cardiovascular disease and deaths. Headlines 
rarely capture the important difference between 
a ‘proxy measure’ (such as a risk factor) and the 
most important outcome (such as rates of death).

Ever read a headline that catches your eye but then 
found the story itself disappointing? Or worse, did 
you feel that the dramatic headline was utterly 
misleading? Yeah, me too.

The impact of a well-crafted headline can be big. We 
often skim the headlines, then decide whether or not 
to read on.

In the same way as media coverage of drug research 
can be misleading or confusing, health headlines can 
be equally deceptive. Watch for these pitfalls.

Overstated study findings

•  Were humans studied? If a study finds that 
a drug is safe and effective for an important 
disease, that’s big news. But what if all of the 
study subjects were mice? Leaving out this 
important detail from the headline exaggerates 
the study’s importance.

• 

Too much drama. Dramatic terms such as 
‘breakthrough’ or ‘groundbreaking’ are common 
in headlines about medical research. Yet true 
breakthroughs are quite rare. That’s the nature 
of science: knowledge tends to accumulate 
slowly, with each finding building a bit on what 
came before.

•  Going too far. Headlines often make a leap of 
faith when summarising a study’s findings. For 
example, if researchers identify a new type of 
cell in the blood that increases when a disease is 
worsening, they may speculate that treatments 
to reduce those cells might control the disease. 
‘Researchers discover new approach to 

Source: Harvard Health Publishing Blog, 21 November 2021. 
Edited for length.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  What are the possible negative effects of exaggerated or inaccurate headlines 

about scientific research (especially medical research)?

2.  Can you think of (or find) any examples of articles that exaggerate scientific 

research findings?

3.  Do you think people would still read or watch news about medical research if 

it was presented accurately?

4.  How can people make sure they aren’t deceived by over-dramatic reporting 

of research?

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONCASE STUDY #3  
ARE BIRDS REAL?

Have you seen a bird recently? Did you notice 
anything strange about it? In 2017, ‘Birds Aren’t Real’ 
signs started appearing at protests and the theory 
that what appear to be birds were actually drones 
began to spread on social media. Proponents of the 
theory claim that all birds in the United States were 
exterminated by the federal government between 
1959 and 1971 and replaced by lookalike drones 
used by the government to spy on citizens. They 
also claim that this has happened in other countries, 
though they do not specify any EU countries.

As with other conspiracy theories, there are some 
inconsistencies in the claims its believers make, but 
here are some:

• 

Bird poo falls on cars too often to be a 
coincidence: in fact, it is a form of liquid 
tracking device.

• 

• 

The eggs and meat people eat are in fact ‘100% 
synthetic’ and have been manufactured by the US 
government to stop people getting suspicious.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by 
the US government because he was reluctant to 
allow birds to be exterminated.

Although the originator of the movement, Peter 
McIndoe, claimed for several years that he truly 
believed what he was saying, in recent years he 
has admitted it is a satirical conspiracy theory, born 
of frustration with the proliferation of conspiracy 
theories during the Trump presidency.

You can read more about Birds Aren’t Real here. 
This isn’t the only ‘fake’ conspiracy theory out there – 
you can also research the Bielefeld conspiracy.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Do you think anyone believes this theory?

2.  What does this theory have in common with ‘real’ conspiracy theories 

you have heard about?

3.  Why do you think people start believing in conspiracy theories?

4.  Are satirical conspiracy theories a good way to combat ‘real’ ones?

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONCASE STUDY #4  
SOCIAL MEDIA DISCUSSION OF ELECTIONS

Have a look at the social media posts below. They are not real, but they are inspired by 
the sorts of posts that tend to appear on social media in the lead-up to elections.  
It is important to keep in mind that small irregularities and human errors may occur in every 
election and that there are established routines in place for checking such things in all EU 
countries. However, elections are often the target of more coordinated disinformation, which 
claims election fraud, election irregularities etc. 

Images generated with Tweetgen.com and Zeoob.com

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Do you agree with any of the arguments made in these posts? Why (not)?

2.  What motivation do you think people might have for posting things like this 

on social media?

3.  What impact do you think posts like this could have on an election?

4.  If your friend posted something like this on social media, how would you respond?

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TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS - HOW TO SPOT AND FIGHT DISINFORMATIONPDF 

ISBN 978-92-68-13971-4 

doi:10.2775/73670 

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