The project aimed to develop young people's media literacy and critical awareness of media content, thereby reducing the risks of digitalization and increasing internet safety among young people. In addition, we wanted to help young people's employability, reduce the risks of marginalization among young people and reduce pseudo-scientific knowledge among young people. We wanted to increase the recognition and validation of informal and non-formal learning, strengthen cooperation between youth organizations and professionals in the three countries, and bring media literacy and critical thinking into the local, national and international discourse. We wanted to disseminate the theme and the results of the project in national decision-making forums and conferences. We wanted to reduce the exclusion of national minorities living in certain countries and to promote dialogue between nationalities and intercultural dialogue.
The three applicant organizations have been working for years/decades in youth work in their respective countries - Hungary, Slovakia and Romania - and have also focused on developing young people's media literacy and critical awareness, identifying the following needs. In recent years, an increasing number of fake news, misinformation, fake sweepstakes and phishing scams have appeared on the Internet, especially on social media, and national and international research shows that a significant proportion of young people are vulnerable to fake news and manipulation. The situation is not helped by the fact that the development of media literacy and critical awareness is not a compulsory part of traditional, formal education, as teachers are not trained in this area, and the subject is not compulsory in university teacher training in Hungary.