Hi, I'm Ms. Lowe, and I'm your RSHE teacher for today.

Today's lesson is all about the impact of fake information, and due to some of the topics and themes covered in today's lesson, it's really important that you complete your learning with the company of an adult.

So here is our outcome for today's lesson, and by the end you'll be able to describe some of the serious dangers caused by fake news.

Every RSHE lesson should begin with a set of ground rules.

This ensures that every conversation had in RSHE is respectful and we're all able to learn effectively.

So Laura is reminding us that in RSHE, we should listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond, and when disagreeing, we challenge the statement and not the person.

Andeep is reminding us to respect privacy.

We can discuss examples, but we don't use names or descriptions that can identify anyone including ourselves.

Izzy is reminding us to choose a level of participation that suits us.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in a discussion, but we never put anyone on the spot.

And finally, Jacob is reminding us that in RSHE, there is no judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without the fear of being judged.

Here are our key words.

Let's go through these definitions together.

So first is disinformation: articles, videos, or images that are untrue and are designed to confuse or mislead us.

Misinformation: false or inaccurate information, getting the facts wrong.

Polarisation: when opinions or groups become very different or opposite, with little common ground between them.

Echo chamber: a place or situation where people only hear ideas that they already agree with, so their beliefs are repeated and not challenged.

Finally, verify: to check if other people or websites confirm that certain information is true.

So here is an outline of the learning that we are gonna be doing in today's lesson.

And we are beginning by asking the question, how can fake news lead to hatred? So people can create news that contains disinformation.

This is news, these are articles, posts that are created to purposefully misinform somebody, and they do this as a way of spreading harmful and hateful points of view.

Because fake news is hard to spot, people may read disinformation and take it as a fact.

Now Lucas is saying here that if people believe disinformation that they've read, they could share it with others and end up spreading misinformation.

Now, fake news can lead to hatred if people do not question the disinformation that they read or share to others.

So we have Ethan here, and Ethan is scrolling on his phone, and he comes across a post on social media about girls being bad at science and maths.

So you can see Ethan here, he's on social media and he's seen a post that says, "Girls are bad at science and maths," and it's posted by somebody anonymous.

Ethan doesn't realise that what he's just read is disinformation.

So this post has been created to purposefully spread information that is not true, but Ethan doesn't realise it.

So Ethan is interested by this post and he searches "Girls are bad at science and maths" online.

He can't actually find any articles or studies that prove it.

So he can't find any real news, any real studies, any information that verifies what he's read.

So instead what he does is he goes on a video site and he searches the topic.

Now, when he searches the topic, there are several videos saying the same thing, and they're all posted from content creators that he hasn't seen before.

So he's on this video site and he's found a video that says, "Top five reasons why girls are bad at science and maths." What we should notice here, a warning sign that we should be seeing is that all of the content creators posting this information are unrecognisable.

They're not known authors, they're not real journalists, they're not really people that Ethan can trust.

So instantly we should be thinking Ethan's consuming disinformation here.

So he's interested and he watches them.

So Ethan's interested by what he sees and he consumes more of this content.

So because Ethan has searched for more of this content online, the algorithm on his social media page begins to promote more content containing disinformation, and this disinformation being suggested to him is becoming more and more hateful.

So his first thing that's suggested for him is "Five reasons that boys are better than girls." Next, the algorithm suggests "Girls aren't as smart as boys." We then see "Girls shouldn't be doctors," and finally, "Girls shouldn't have jobs." So as we can see, the algorithm is promoting more and more harmful content to Ethan.

Now interestingly here, it's important to know that social media algorithms don't know if the content that it's suggesting to you is disinformation or not.

Algorithms just work off what you regularly interact with online.

So if there's a certain type of content, a certain content creator that you really like, the likelihood is that your social media algorithm will promote more of that content or similar content, and this is what's happening to Ethan.

So let's pause here and let's check our understanding about what we've learned so far.

So true or false, social media doesn't promote content that contains disinformation? Is this true or false? Pause the video, have a think about your answer, and then we'll go through the correct answer together in just a moment.

Really well done if you said false.

Why is this false? Well, social media algorithms promote content to users related to their previous searches and their online habits.

The algorithm itself doesn't really consider whether the content contains disinformation.

It's only suggesting it because it relates to content that these looked at before.

So as Ethan begins to interact more with these posts online and makes more searches for related content on other sites, the algorithm starts to suggest even more content like this.

Eventually what happens is the majority of Ethan's social media is full of hateful comments about girls.

And what this has done is it's formed an echo chamber where the content and content creators who support these views are the only ones that Ethan sees on social media.

Now, because Ethan is being recommended lots of content that contains disinformation about girls, he's starting to believe it.

Remember, he's in that echo chamber, so he's only seeing information that supports that point of view, but he's never seen information that challenges this hateful content.

Ethan's saying here, "I've seen so many posts about girls not being as smart as boys, it must be true." And he's believing this because he is not seeing any content at all that challenges that harmful point of view.

So Ethan has found himself believing the content that he's seen because he hasn't seen anything saying something different.

And he starts to think, well, nobody else is talking about this.

Maybe I should share these stories with my friends.

I've seen so much content, I've seen nothing proven that it's not true.

I should share this with my friends online.

But Ethan doesn't realise that what he's read is disinformation.

So he shares it with his friends on social media, and what ends up happening is Ethan begins to spread misinformation.

He's got the facts wrong, but he's spreading it unknowingly.

And what he's doing is he's spreading hateful content to his friends online.

Now let's pause here and check our understanding.

So only seeing content that supports one point of view is known as blank.

So pause the video here, have a think about your answer, and then we'll go through the correct one together in a moment.

Well done if you said B.

So only seeing content that supports one point of view is known as an echo chamber.

And the reason why it's called an echo chamber is imagine if you stood in a tunnel and you shouted something out, you'd hear those same words reflected back at you, you'd hear the same words over and over again through that echo, and that's exactly what an echo chamber is.

You only see the same sorts of opinions and ideas, and they are never ever challenged.

Those ideas, those points of view are just continually reflected back at you.

You never see anything that challenges it.

So Ethan's friends trust him and they believe some of the things that he sent them.

And what happens then is they may also begin to spread this misinformation, and they might also start to feel angry about what they've read.

So if we have a look at Ethan's group chat here.

Ethan says, "Oh, what did you think about that stuff that I sent you?" And one of his friends says, "I couldn't believe it.

I've shared it as well." And another friend says, "Why aren't people talking more about this?" So what Ethan's done here is he has set off a chain of spreading misinformation and harmful, hateful content.

As Ethan consumes disinformation through his echo chamber, he starts to have strong negative feelings about girls and believes all the content that has a negative opinion on girls.

What an echo chamber can do is it can deepen negative feelings and attitudes as hateful content is repeatedly shared, and this can create prejudices.

Now, Sofia is telling us here that a prejudice is when someone judges or dislikes others unfairly, without knowing them based on things like race, gender, or appearance.

So we can see here that being in an echo chamber is a very harmful thing.

So the disinformation that people consume online can actually impact the way that they treat others in real life.

Fake news often uses emotionally charged language and imagery to provoke feelings of anger, outrage, and hatred.

And when individuals feel angry or outraged, they may act impulsively and aggressively.

So Lucas is telling us here that this anger and aggression is often taken out on the group of people that the fake news was focused on.

Now, in Ethan's case, this anger is aimed towards girls.

But what we've seen here is how fake news that Ethan has read online has actually transformed into real world hatred.

It went from Ethan reading one post about girls being bad at science and maths, reading that disinformation, to continually reading more and more and more, having those points of views reinforced, and then finally it coming out in, you know, acts of anger, outrage, and hatred.

So we'll pause here and we'll check our understanding.

So true or false, fake news has no impact on real life? Pause the video here, have a think about your answer, and then we'll go through the correct one together in a moment.

Well done if you said false.

Why do we know that this is false? Well, fake news can lead to hatred in real life, particularly when people are in echo chambers that contain hateful disinformation.

Now what we're gonna do is we're gonna put our learning into practise.

I would like for you to fill out the flow chart below with information about how fake news led to Ethan feeling hatred.

I've done the first part for you.

I've said that Ethan sees a post about girls being bad at science and maths, so searches online for more information.

Your job is to fill in those other three parts of the flow chart with how reading fake news and disinformation led to Ethan feeling hatred towards women and girls.

So pause the video here, write down your answer, and then we'll go through what you could have written in just a moment.

Really well done for giving that a go.

So you were asked to fill in those three parts of the flow chart explaining how fake news led to Ethan feeling hatred.

So something that you might have written is that the algorithm on social media promotes more disinformation to Ethan.

Ethan then finds himself in an echo chamber of disinformation about girls, and he shares what he's seen with his friends.

Finally, all the disinformation starts to make Ethan have strong negative feelings towards girls in real life.

Well done if you wrote any of those things in your flow chart.

Really good work.

We are moving on now to the second part of our lesson and we're asking the question, how can fake news cause someone to get ill? So the internet is full of useful information.

Sometimes this information is really helpful and it can aid us in our daily lives.

However, sometimes the information that we read online, particularly about health or managing illnesses can actually be misleading and incorrect.

Our nurse here is telling us that if you are ever worried about your health, it's best that you speak to a medical professional.

Sometimes when people feel unwell, they may search online to see if there's information about their symptoms. Izzy saying here that often fake news about illnesses can exaggerate how bad something is, or suggest that a person is seriously unwell based on their symptoms. And Aisha's saying that if somebody came across this while searching online about their symptoms or an illness, it could cause serious stress and panic.

So we're gonna pause here and we're gonna check our understanding.

True or false, it's best to see a medical professional about any health concerns instead of searching online? So pause the video here, have a think about your answer, and then we'll go through the correct one together.

Well done if you said true.

Yes, if you are ever concerned about your health, about health condition or an illness, it is always best to speak to a medical professional rather than searching online.

Now, if people are struggling with an illness, they may search for ways to help manage their symptoms. Fake news sites can spread unproven or even dangerous remedies for illnesses.

Our doctor here is telling us that this can lead people to try unsafe methods, instead of seeking proper medical care.

Fake news can also spread disinformation about medical professionals and medicine.

And what this can do is it can prevent individuals from seeking or sticking to treatment recommended by a doctor.

Jun is telling us here that this can cause distrust in medical professionals.

And Sam is asking the question, "Well, what can happen if people distrust medical professionals?" So if people distrust medical professionals, they may ignore necessary medical advice.

They might avoid going to medical professionals for medical conditions.

They might stop accessing treatments needed for long-term conditions.

And they might avoid essential vaccines that prevent them and others around them from becoming unwell.

We'll pause the video here again and we'll check our understanding.

Fake news can cause what in medical professionals? So pause the video here, have a think about your answer, and then we'll go through the correct answer together.

Well done if you said distrust.

Yes, fake news can cause distrust in medical professionals, which can lead to people avoiding seeing a doctor for necessary medical treatment.

It can avoid them, it can make them avoid following what a doctor has told them to do in terms of managing their illness, and it can stop them from taking necessary medical precautions like vaccines that keep them and the people around them safe.

Now we are going to put our learning into practise.

So below is a paragraph with some blanks and I would like for you to fill in the blanks using the word bank at the bottom of the screen.

So pause the video, give yourself some time to read through the paragraph first, have a look through those missing words and then fill in the blanks, and we'll go through the correct answers together in a moment.

Great work on giving that task a go.

Let's have a look at this completed paragraph and see if you've got the answers correct.

So people sometimes search for information about their symptoms if they feel unwell.

Sometimes this information is helpful, but sometimes it contains disinformation.

Fake news about medical issues often exaggerate how bad something is.

This can cause stress and panic.

Fake news can also encourage people to avoid necessary medical treatments and may suggest other less effective treatments.

Fake news about medical issues can lead to distrust in medical professionals, and to people avoiding speaking to a doctor when they really need to.

Well done if you managed to get all of those missing words filled into those blanks in the correct places.

Excellent job.

Now we are moving on to the final part of our lesson where we're asking the question, how can fake news change the way that someone votes? So the government of a country has a lot of power and influence.

They're in charge of things like funding for public services like schools, hospitals and emergency services, security and defence of the country as a whole, creating and enforcing important laws, protecting the environment, protecting people's rights and freedoms. Now, during a general election, every adult in the country votes for the people that they want to be in charge of the government.

Elections have a big impact on everyone in the country, so the way that people vote really matters.

During a general election, the person who is elected is in charge of all of the things that we just saw on that previous screen, enforcing laws, protecting people's rights and freedoms. So a general election is a really important time.

Izzy is saying that before an election, what people will usually do is they'll look at the news or they'll read stories about the people who are running in the election, so that they can make the best informed choice that sits in line with their values, the things that are really important to them.

The news and information that people read during an election can actually change the way that they vote.

For example, let's have a look at Izzy's uncle.

Izzy's uncle is looking at information about who to vote for in the next election.

And one of the most important things for Izzy's uncle is the climate crisis.

So Izzy's uncle, here he is on a website looking at some political news and he's saying, "I want to vote for the party that will help the planet." So he is looking at an article here called "The Environment and the Election." However, Izzy's uncle is actually looking at a fake news post, and in this fake news post, there is disinformation about one of the candidates and their opinions on climate change.

The article states, "Candidate A says that he loves climate change." Now, fake news can spread disinformation about a candidate's past actions or opinions, and this can really sway the way that a person votes.

So when somebody reads a fake news article containing information that has been purposefully created to spread lies or false information, this can really change the way a person feels about a candidate or a person running in an election.

And this can cause voters to reject candidates, to say, "Well, I don't want to vote for them anymore.

I'm going to vote for somebody else." And this has happened to Izzy's uncle here.

He says, "I could never vote for someone who said that." So fake news can often simplify important issues or explain them using emotional language.

And what this can do is it can intensify polarisation.

And as we know that polarisation is when two groups have very, very different opinions and there's little to no common ground between them.

And what happens when a group of people become polarised is it means that they're less likely to consider opposing points of view.

So let's have a look at Izzy's uncle's case here.

So Izzy is saying, "Candidate A wants to help fight climate change, uncle." Izzy's uncle is very convinced by the disinformation that he's read online, and he says, "That's not true.

I've read online that they love climate change." So let's pause the video here and check our understanding.

So fake news can cause blank and make voters less likely to consider different viewpoints.

I'd like you to pause the video here, have a think about which of those three words is the correct answer, and then we'll go through the answer together in just a moment.

Well done if you said polarisation.

So what it can do is it can cause groups of people to feel that they have no common ground.

And when you feel that you're correct and somebody else is wrong, you see no common ground between you, it can make you less likely to listen to an opposing point of view.

So voters often search for information that confirms belief and are more likely therefore to encounter and trust fake news, and it stops people from being open to credible information.

So we think about Izzy's uncle, he's read that candidate A loves climate change.

He doesn't really wanna do anything to help the planet.

Now because Izzy's uncle has read this, he's more likely to go out there and search for information that confirms that point of view.

So Izzy's uncle's gone online and he searched, "Why does candidate A love climate change?" Lots of exposure to fake news can undermine trust in credible, traditional news outlets.

When voters distrust established news sources, they begin to rely on disinformation to guide their decisions.

They may also spread misinformation to other voters, which can change the way that they vote as well.

So Izzy's uncle is very convinced by these fake news articles that he's read, by these fake news posts on social media, and he feels the need to share this with others.

So Izzy's uncle has posted on social media, "I've read that candidate A loves climate change Do not vote for them." Now, the consequence of this is that he spread misinformation to other voters and it may have an impact on the way that they vote as well.

So fake news is often made to create strong emotions like fear, anger, or excitement, which can seriously impact decision making.

When a person is influenced by anger or fear, it can change the way that they vote.

So Izzy's uncle is feeling the emotion of fear and he's saying he's really worried about climate change, so he can't possibly vote for candidate A.

So Jacob is saying here that elections have a massive impact on everyone in the country and the world around us.

Andeep is saying if people vote for someone based on disinformation, it has a terrible impact on everyone.

Fake news can lead to people voting for someone who doesn't really work in their best interests.

And to prevent fake news from impacting the way a person votes, it's important that they verify the information that they read about elections.

So that means going out and checking that what they've read is correct.

So if a social media post comes up, just like it did for Izzy's uncle that said that candidate A loved climate change, what Izzy's uncle could have done is he could have gone online and looked at some credible news sources, some credible news source sites on social media as well, and tried to verify that information.

Tried to make sure that what he was reading was correct and not disinformation.

So what people can do to verify the news that they read and consume is check in the author of the article and whether they've other articles written on legitimate news sites, look up the information that they've read and see if it's mentioned anywhere else, and avoid news content from social media, and verifying anything that they do read on real news sites.

Now, sometimes social media can have accounts that are created by verifiable and traditional news sources.

However, it's really important that anything that you read on social media, you go out and check on real websites by real, verifiable traditional media news outlets, just to make sure that the information that you've read is correct and it is not disinformation.

Now we're gonna pause here and check our understanding.

So true or false, fake news can't impact a whole country? Pause the video here, have a think about your answer, and then we'll go through the correct one in a moment.

Well done if you said false.

Why is this false? Well, fake news can impact the way a person votes, and if people vote for a candidate because of disinformation, this impacts the whole country.

So fake news can indeed impact a whole country.

Well done if you said false.

Moving on now to the final part of today's lesson.

I would like for you to write one paragraph explaining how fake news can change the way someone votes.

In your answers in your paragraphs, I'd like you to consider elections and their importance, disinformation, misinformation, distrust in credible news outlets, polarisation, and verifying information.

So pause the video here, have a think about your paragraphs, get them written down, and try to include those six things in your answer.

Excellent work giving those paragraphs a go.

I have written a paragraph here on the screen.

We'll go through it and we'll see if you have written anything similar.

So I've said, "Elections are important because citizens choose who they want to be in charge of the Government and make important decisions for the whole country.

When people consume disinformation about a candidate or a political party, they may believe it and possibly spread misinformation to others.

Fake news can make people distrust credible news outlets, and it can stop them from believing the truth.

When fake news uses emotive language, it can cause polarisation and make it harder to understand other people's viewpoints.

It is important to verify information about elections and candidates to ensure that disinformation is not impacting the way in which someone votes." Very well done for writing those paragraphs, and an extra well done if you wrote down any of the things that I have said and you managed to include all six of those points.

Now, to end today's lesson, we're gonna go through a summary of what we have learned.

So fake news and disinformation can impact the way people see others.

It can lead to anger, fear, or hatred of a group of people, especially if the person consuming it is in an echo chamber.

People often search for information online about illnesses or symptoms they're experiencing.

If what they've read is fake news, it can lead to them becoming more ill or cause harm to others.

People will often use the internet to find out more about candidates during elections.

If what they consume is fake news, they may spread misinformation to others and change the way they vote.

Before believing anything we read online, especially about important or emotive issues, we must verify what we have read.

Now, if anything that we have covered in today's topic affects you or you are concerned about anything, here are some places that you can go to to access support.

So first we have Childline, a website and phone line which is able to offer confidential advice and support.

CEOP, which helps protect children from online abuse and exploitation.

And finally, Internet Matters, which teaches children and parents how to stay safe and happy online while using the internet.

And I would like to end today's lesson by saying a huge well done for all your fantastic learning that you've been doing, and I look forward to seeing you in another RSHE lesson soon.