Detstvo bez násilia

Do not believe everything you find on the Internet

The Internet is full of information that is to us - the average user - very easily accessible. All we need to do is open GOOGLE and type in a few words to search. Many people may not even realise it, but the search engine becomes our right hand. Throughout it, we are looking for answers to questions from simple information such as weather forecasts, instructions for use or recipes to important information that can affect our lives. The problem arises when it comes to the credibility of the information. Today, there are many websites, articles, blogs which do not provide true information. Anyone can add his or her opinion on the Internet and present it in quite sophisticated way. That information might look credible, especially if we do not know a lot about the topic. False information, especially the one related to health, medicaments, pills, health treatment etc., can be life-threatening.

This kind of false information on the Internet is simply called a hoax. We can characterise it as untruth, false or alarming message. The aim of the hoax is to provoke fear, spread panic, and damage the reputation of a particular institution or company. There are also hoaxes which only aim is to attract the user's attention in order to click on the page where the ads are located. Therefore, it is very important not to forget to verify the information from several sources and in an important situation to search for a help from experts.

One of the tasks of our National Strategy for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment is to support the enforcement of media literacy, the development of critical thinking and the development of skills necessary for an analysis of complex media facts which are needed for recognising the difference between objective facts and subjective opinions.

You can find the video HERE.

More information on strategic materials can be found at www.detstvobeznasilia.gov.sk/en or on the accounts of the National Coordination Centre for Resolving the Issues of Violence against Children on social networks.

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