Four Steps to Guide Your Child in Critically Evaluate Information Online

When your child comes across false or seemingly suspicious content through social media platforms, websites or messaging platforms, it could misinform or cause unnecessary confusion. Let them know never to take what they read online at face value and verify the content before sharing.

What is False Information?

False information is any information that is deliberately or accidentally misinformative or untrue, often shared to mislead the public, damage an entity, or gain financially. E.g. doctored videos, images that create a false narrative, or fabricated news that has no factual grounding.

4 Tips to Assess Suspicious Information

Walk through these four S.U.R.E steps by the National Library Board to determine if it is false information.

1. Source

Check the origin of the information. If your child found the information on social media or through their friends, check if the content comes from a credible website. If the content did not come from any website or the source website is seemingly fake or has little or no information under “about us” or “contact us”, chances are that the information is not true. Be vigilant against fake websites that possibly imitate the official ones!

2. Understand

Teach your child to examine the content to assess if it is genuine. Watch out for content that is vague and lacks facts, or has information not confirmed by official sources. The content may be poorly written or have video or photos taken from other incidents. These are clear signs that it might be false information.

3. Research

Urge your child to dig deeper by searching online for mentions of suspicious content from credible and reliable websites. Some suspicious content may include credible sources but quoted out of context, to lend credibility to the overall hoax message. When in doubt, always check multiple sources to be sure. However, bear in mind that some false information may take time to debunk.

4. Evaluate

Ask your child to assess the information, by asking them to think critically about the message. Always exercise fair judgment and consider if the content may be manipulated or edited to influence opinions. Ask the 5W1H - who is involved? What is the issue at hand? Where did it happen? When did it take place? Why did it happen? How did it happen?  These questions will help guide your child as they evaluate the content.

Remember, there are always two sides to a story, so remind your child to consider other sides of the story as well.

By adopting these four practical tips, you can help to encourage critical thinking in your child and safeguard against false information in the digital world.