The Communications Commission has successfully held the 7^th edition of media literacy contest “Truth or Fiction?” The jury panel assessed around 100 entries and selected three winners, who received ultramodern prizes from the Commission. The media literacy contest has been held for four years, and has lost none of its relevance. It aims to develop critical thinking, analysis and fact-checking skills among the youngsters. As part of the contest, participants had to identify fake news in media space that had not yet been confirmed as inaccurate. The pupils had to explain how they identified the information, present the relevant source and establish real facts surrounding the case.

The first prize in the competition was won by Luka Shvelidze, whose work concerned NATO air defence systems. Luka came across an article on the Georgia and the World platform, which claimed that NATO had serious problems with its air defence systems. He checked the article’s authenticity and the identity of the author. In his video presentation, Luka then clearly explained the issues with the article. He received an iPhone 13 Pro from the Communications Commission for winning the competition.

The second place in the contest went to Nikoloz Kipshidze, whose work discussed an article posted on the Georgia and the World platform discussing a statement made by the Russian Ministry of Defence regarding the elimination of Georgian fighters in Ukraine. Nikoloz highlighted the emotional aspect of his research, while also checking the information from the Russian-language source with more credible media outlets and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ultimately establishing the article’s inaccuracy. Nikoloz Kipshidze received an HP laptop from the Communications Commission as a gift.

The third place went to Luka Kavtaradze, who verified the information about a rejuvenating product advertised on https://offer.health-blog.me. He examined the facts, images and quotes provided in the article and established that the people featuring in the article were not real medical personnel, and their recommendations were therefore untrustworthy. Luka received an iPad 10.2 as a gift.

The media literacy contest “Truth or Fiction?” has been organised by the Communications Commission seven times – twice for bachelor’s degree students and five times for school pupils. Parallel to the contest, the Commission held school trainings on the subject of fact verification and detecting fake news, using materials from BBC Academy. During the interactive sessions, pupils learned how to analyse fake news in the media and verify facts. These meetings also helped them prepare their entries for the contest.