ABSTRACT
Media literacy and the new tools developed to navigate the high-choice media environment in which information disorders have proliferated to an unprecedented extent are largely considered as key answers to fight disinformation. In the YouCheck! project (2019–2020), we tested the implementation of a new plugin with the purpose of identifying misleading visual disinformation online, as a media and information literacy tool. We used a mix-method pilot study designed to evaluate the use of the InVID-WeVerify plugin, both as a large-public available resource and as an MIL tool in classrooms. We implemented a feedback questionnaire on beta-testers (N = 56), a media literacy intervention applied to high school pupils (N = 233), and focus groups with high school teachers (N = 34 teachers) in order to understand how to maximise the utility and of the plugin to fight visual disinformation. Results showed that all three groups (beta-testers, pupils, and teachers) viewed the plugin positively and perceived its usefulness in fighting disinformation. In spite of positive results in the class interventions, teachers nonetheless expressed reluctance to introduce it in classrooms without prior training and institutional support. The cross-country differences reflected the need to embed MIL more evenly in the school curricula so as to ensure that its benefits are spread across the European Union.
