In the midst of an advertiser boycott, Facebook is rolling out a new media literacy/voter education initiative in conjunction with the Poynter Institute’s Mediawise program. Will it be enough to regain the trust of its users, who have been made wary by the presence of misinformation campaigns and hate speech? In this interview with Policy Director for Facebook, Robert Traynham, I explore the issues of responsibility and regulation in an era of rampant fraud on social media.
Then, an interview with Kristyn Wellesley – Editorial Director for MediaWise at The Poynter Institute about building media literacy in an era of fake news. MediaWise is partnering with Facebook.
Following Facebook’s announcement last week that it’s running the largest voting information effort in US history, Facebook is announcing an expanded partnership with the Poynter Institute to launch the MediaWise for Seniors program to help teach older Americans how to find reliable information and spot inaccurate information about the presidential election as well as COVID-19.
Through this partnership, MediaWise will host a series of Facebook Lives teaching media literacy working with Poynter’s PolitiFact, create two engaging online classes for seniors on Poynter’s e-learning platform, News University, and launch a social media campaign teaching MediaWise tips across platforms. AARP will also promote the MediaWise for Seniors campaign to its nearly 37 million members.
Older Americans are increasingly engaged online, with more than 40% of people over the age of 65 actively using social media platforms. As Facebook launches the largest voter information effort in US history, part of that is teaching everyone, from first time voters to those who vote in every election, how to spot election misinformation for themselves.
