We live amongst information chaos. Everyday we are bombarded with news whose veracity and credibility may be difficult to assess. New media have brought an unprecedented experience of being exposed to a permanent stream of news. But at the same time they have been used to spread fallacies, conspiracy theories and politically biased portrayals. Populist politics, which gains popularity in numerous countries, seems to thrive off this chaos. Some claim that we have entered the era of ‘post-truth’, in which verification is no longer possible. It seems that whoever wins in producing their own narrative on the world, prevails.

Against such a view we aim to defend the truth, verification of facts and descriptions. To achieve this standing aim, the RADAR project together with its partner institution, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, offered an event that aims to train participants in recognising and fighting disinformation. It was focused on disinformation targeting LGBTQIA+ people and communities, who are particularly affected by politically steered biases and misportrayals.

THE EVENT

The session consisted of two separate parts, for which participants sign up independently.

• Public debate: 5-6 experts presented and discussed the main features of disinformation, ways of identifying and combating it, as well as specificity of disinformation targeting LGBTQIA+ people. The audience (100-150 people) had the opportunity to ask questions and get involved in discussion.
• Youth lab: This part, envisaged for 25-30 people, had a workshop format. Participants worked with two qualified trainers in order to train identification of disinformation on LGBTQIA+ persons and find possible solutions for it. 

From participants of the Youth Lab two persons were designated Youth Ambassadors, who took part in the project-funded closing event in Brussels (1-2 February 2024). Youth Ambassadors from 5 countries gathered together with other young Europeans to discuss and compare the different countries’ perspectives and come up with a joint set of recommendations for EU policy-makers. They had the chance to present youth recommendations to relevant EU interlocutors.