Understanding the risks of radicalisation associated with media
Theme
Understanding the risks of radicalisation associated with media / social media use and develop strategies to stay safe.
Aims
To understand why online media use increasingly dramatic content to engage users, how this content can reflect extreme political ideologies. To discuss the impact that this might have on young people and what they might do to respond.
Specific Objectives
1. Discuss the way that YouTube recommends increasingly dramatic content as part of a user engagement strategy.
2. Identify examples of situations in which participants have been recommended increasingly dramatic content by YouTube or other service providers
3. Demonstrate how following recommended links on YouTube can lead increasingly extreme content.
** YOU SHOULD ONLY DO THIS PART OF THE LESSON IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE LEARNERS IN YOUR GROUP WILL RESPOND APPROPRIATELY**
4. Analyse how a young person might react to increasingly extreme content
5. Identify and rehearse top tips for spotting fake news
Target audience
12+
Youth worker activity (step by step)
1. Read through the first two paragraphs of the article Extremism Pays. Ask learners to discuss why extreme articles may encourage users to stay longer on YouTube.
2. Ask learners to discuss their experience using YouTube and to potentially identify examples of situations when sensational or extremist content was recommend by YouTube.
3. Project YouTube and begin exploring content, start off by focusing on mainstream politicians and demonstrate how by following recommended links that you can be led to extremist content. (You should rehearse this beforehand).
4. Ask learners to work in pairs and discuss how a young person might respond if they spend a lot of time consuming extremist content. Facilitate feedback and large group discussion.
5. Share top tips for spotting fake news. Then ask learners to consider a web site that you identify and ask them to analyse that web site using those top tips
Learner activity (step by step)
1. Discuss why extreme articles may encourage users to stay longer on YouTube.
2. Identify personal examples of situations when sensational or extremist content was recommend by YouTube.
3. Observe and discuss why YouTube recommend extremist content.
4. In pairs and discuss how a young person might respond if they spend a lot of time consuming extremist content. Feedback their analysis to the rest of the group.
5. Analyse a given web site using top tips for critical thinking. Share their analysis with the wider group and engage in an analytical discussion of the given web site
Resources required
1. Access to the article Extremism Pays on The Guardian website
2. Access to 5 top tips for spotting fake news ( you will need to register on this website to download teaching resources)
Assessment of learning
Observe individual contribution to discussions
Duration
1 hour
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