We need an antidote to the harmful use of social media, said the participants in the “Face to Face Durbin” workshop, which was held on November 4 at the premises of the Probishtip Youth Center, with the for “Face to Face” Sustainable Development Platform and the “GRIT” Association as its organizers.
The workshop was attended by high school students from Probishtip, Zletovo and Kratovo who study in the secondary municipal schools of “Kole Nehtenin” from Shtip, “Naum Naumovski – Borche” from Probishtip and “Mitko Pendzukliski” from Kratovo, along with their teachers. Also contributing to this workshop were the youth from the local citizens’ associations, i.e. the Regional Roma Educational Youth Association from Kratovo, the volunteers from the Probishtip Youth Center and the hosts from “GRIT”.
Below are some of the participants’ statements:
“I didn’t know that I, as a young person, can submit complaints to any organizations and institutions in our country, against any harmful content that I come across in the media.”
“I learned that artificial intelligence can be used to create virtually anything – including fake news, disinformation and other harmful content.”
“Hate speech directed against children of Turkish and Roma nationality at my school bothers me, but I don’t know how to react.”
” I often come across fake content on Tiktok and Instagram, created with the intention of harming some children from my community. I haven’t reported such profiles, but it is good that they disappear very quickly.”
“It’s hard to make and maintain friendships’in person’ when we’re online all the time.”
“We need more media literacy content.”
“We need to get active as part of a media literacy club.”
Sasho Bogdanovski, Head of the Human Rights and Media Literacy Unit of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (AVMU), dwelled on the importance of media and information literacy in the overall day-to-day modern life. He emphasized the actions of the regulatory body, AVMU, spoke about personal data protection when using social networks, and tackled the influence of Artificial Intelligence.
Maja Ravanska, “Lice v Lice” (Face to Face) editor-in-chief, presented the street magazine, as well as the opportunities for involving young people in the activities of the Sustainable Development Platform with the same name. Martina Jachevska, “GRIT” president, spoke about the opportunities that young people from these regions have when it comes to co-creating content for “Face to Face”, as well as to their involvement in the various activities of the organization.
In the future, some of the participants will have an opportunity to get involved in creating content related to the fight against polarization, disinformation, fake news and hate speech, with an emphasis on these challenges on the Internet.
The event was held as part of the 2024 Media Literacy Days.
