On 22 July 2025, ACIPSS researcher Stefan Auer held an interactive, multi-hour workshop on fake news, disinformation and radicalization on the internet at Jugend am Werk Steiermark (https://jaw.or.at/). He showed hidden mechanisms and logics of social media platforms that bombard us non-stop and unfiltered with content, false and misinformation and anti-democratic to extremist ideas. He also analyzed together with the teenagers and young adults how we can practically defend ourselves against this, how everyone can independently check information for accuracy and thus prevent themselves from slipping into a spiral of disinformation.
Many thanks for the invitation to Jugend am Werk Steiermark and to all participants for a successful workshop!