Experts available to discuss how to detect disinformation in Russia’s war against Ukraine

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and with it came a blizzard of mis- and disinformation across social media platforms. News Literacy Project experts Peter Adams, senior vice president of education, and John Silva, senior director of professional learning, are available to discuss how to spot misinformation about the Russian/Ukrainian war, including:

• Determining the credibility of news and other content.
• Identifying different types of information.
• Performing reverse image searches and lateral reading to verify social posts.
• Using the standards of authoritative, fact-based journalism to determine what to trust, share and act on.

When highly politicized, fast-moving events like this occur, it’s important to be able to tell news from opinion, propaganda, and other types of information with varying purposes. Similarly, when consuming news and information about unfamiliar situations and geographic locales, it is important to vet the sources you are relying on.

NLP, a nonpartisan national education nonprofit, has long worked to tackle the difficult task of discerning fact from fiction in an ever-increasing digitally connected world where anyone can create content. NLP provides free programs and resources for anyone to learn and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy. Some of NLP’s free resources include:

• This foundational lesson from NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom, which teaches how to categorize the primary purpose of information into one of six “zones:” news, opinion, entertainment, advertising, propaganda, or raw information.
• Numerous shareable infographics with tips about misinformation, how to Google like a pro, vetting sources, conspiratorial thinking and more.
• Quizzes, such as “Is it legit?,” “Should you share it?” and “Fighting falsehoods on social media” to better understand what credible sources look like.
• NLP’s RumorGuard, a review of significant and timely viral rumors with important news literacy lessons and insights.

To access all of NLP’s free resources, click here.

To speak with Peter or John, contact: [email protected].

Dec. 9, 2022: This page has been updated to reflect the date of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to include a link to NLP’s RumorGuard site.