The Communications Commission has successfully held the 10^th edition of the media literacy contest “Truth or Fiction?” for bachelor’s degree students from various universities, whose submissions were assessed by a competent jury panel. According to the rules of the contest, participants were required to identify fake news in Georgian media space that had not yet been confirmed as inaccurate, explain how they identified the information, present the relevant source and establish real facts surrounding the case. The winners received high-tech prizes from the Commission. 

The first place in the contest went to the TSU computer science student Lasha Kurdadze, whose work concerned information published on the “Sputnik Georgia” website. The article stated that the sales of Russian uranium to the US had trebled. Along with Russian sources, it claimed to have been based on American data, but provided no evidence to substantiate this claim. Lasha therefore checked the original source, sought additional information from reliable sources, and determined that the information was false. It is worth noting that Lasha has won the “Truth or Fiction?” contest for the second time, and first time as a university student. He received a MacBook Air 15.3 from the Communications Commission as a gift. 

The second place was taken by the Caucasus University law student Vitali Baraban, whose video presentation concerned a statement made by a Georgian politician on air, claiming that apart from Georgia, only Russia, China, Iran and Israel retained mandatory military service. Based on credible sources, Vitali established that dozens of countries operate the aforementioned practice, and that the respondent’s claims were false. Vitali Baraban received an iPhone 15 Pro from the Communications Commission as a gift. 

The third place went to the TSU physics student Luka Jamagidze, whose work concerned the false claims made on one of the Russian Telegram channels about the destruction of Ukrainian equipment by the Russian Armed Forces. Apart from consulting reliable sources, Luka also checked the video clip attached to the Telegram post and proved that the information was fake. He received an iPad 10.9 from the Communications Commission. 

The awards ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on the subject of developing critical thinking skills among young people. The discussion was moderated by ComCom member Natia Kukuladze. Together with the panel members (Head of Media Literacy Department at ComCom Mariam Dakhundaridze, Head of Media Academy Shorena Shaverdashvili and UNICEF representative Maia Kurtsikidze), she summarised the ten editions of the contest and the results acieved by te Communications Commission with regards to raising awareness about media literacy among young people. 

Apart from prizes, the Commission also helps the contest winners and other successful participants in career development and provides them with certified training. Upon the completion of the course, participants will obtain trainer status and will have the opportunity to get involved in media literacy projects. 

The media literacy contest “Truth or Fiction?” is designed to develop analytical, fact-checking and critical thinking skills in teenagers. The contest has been held six times for schoolchildren and four times for university students, attracting a total of 700 participants. Along with the contest, ComCom held around 170 seminars in schools and universities, within the framework of which more than 3700 pupils and students were trained in media literacy.