National video competition aims to tackle disinformation
Young people in Lochaber and Argyll and Bute are being encouraged to take part in a national video competition aimed at tackling disinformation.
Launched last week by Stewart McDonald MP, the contest, which runs until Monday January 31, asks young people aged 16 to 30 to make a six-minute video on how disinformation has affected them and their peers. It also encourages them to share their own ideas on how disinformation can best be tackled.
Newly-elected Fort William and Ardnamurchan councillor Sarah Fanet is backing the competition and said: 'When I was a student, the internet and social media didn’t exist and our sources of information were limited to a number of TV channels and newspapers often recommended by teachers. In the world of social media, it has become far more difficult for young people to know whether the source of information they are using is reliable.
'As Stewart McDonald rightly said: 'We know it is young people who are so often the target of disinformation but we also know they are often the most resilient to it too'.
'Disinformation poisons every part of our lives from our democracy to our security and has detrimental effects on the well-being of groups of people who are constantly targeted and stigmatised through false, inaccurate or distorted information.
'It is important our young people are equipped to challenge this and producing the six-minute video is an opportunity for them to reflect and share ideas and policies to tackle disinformation.
'I hope there will be many entries from Lochaber and Argyll and Bute and am sure discussions from them will be used as a basis for future work to find solutions to tackle the threat disinformation poses to us all.'
Videos can be emailed, along with a 100-word biography, to stewart.mcdonald.mp@ parliament.uk or sent via WeTransfer at stewartmcdonaldmp.wetransfer.com by Monday January 31. The winner will be announced on Monday February 7 and will receive £100. The videos will be published on Stewart McDonald’s website and social media channels.