CONTRA is based on two previous projects - "The Impact of Extremist Propaganda on the Internet" and "Conducting a Media Psychology Survey to Analyse the Effects of Counter Narratives on the Prevention of Islamist and Right-Wing Extremist Propaganda".
The Problem
The Internet is a key medium for extremist actors to encourage others to adopt their views. Often, right-wing extremist and Islamist groups spread their radical ideologies using video messages, music, and images, whose attractive formats specifically address young people. Youth and young adults constitute a vulnerable audience to extremist messaging, and risk to be manipulated by propaganda. In certain, critical, conditions, extremist messages can trigger or favour radicalization processes. For example, the influence of online propaganda had an important role in prompting several young people to leave their country as 'foreign fighters'.
Reaching the age of 13 or 14, adolescents find themselves in a critical age of their development and become particularly vulnerable to propaganda messages. At that age, in fact, young people begin to develop social and political awareness. They reflect on themes such as values, religiosity, affiliation and identity, and they try to make sense of their environment and ‘lifeworld’. Increasingly curious towards the important questions of life and society, young people, however, do not always have the skills needed to approach information in a critical manner, and to distinguish information from propaganda. In some cases, they might not have a sufficient social support system, such as family and friends, to help them in this task. The risk that they become manipulated by propaganda, therefore, exists.
It is, therefore, to provide all young people with the tools for disarming this process, and to start as early as possible, on the benches of schools. CONTRA's approach is primary, preventive and comprehensive: it aims to address all young people of a certain age, regardless of their ethnic or religious background.
The premise is that pupils cannot be shielded from being exposed to propaganda, but can, instead, learn to deal with it, through the enhancement of their critical media literacy. Empowering young women and men to engage critically with the media enables them to challenge ideas, construct rational thoughts, and engage in meaningful debate, online and offline. Through the program, young people learn to handle issues related to their social reality, and to break with a "black-and-white" type of thinking. They become, as a result, better equipped to recognize and resist online manipulation.
CONTRA proposes to promote prevention in schools by focusing especially on youth's regular media practices.
The program’s learning resources are developed on the basis of propaganda materials, the same that young women and men might find, intentionally or inadvertently, in their daily media practice (for instance, on YouTube). To this end, the staff of CONTRA is investigating the features (visibility, reach, and context) of extremist audio-visual materials, as well as of messages countering extremism.
On the basis of this research, CONTRA is developing a prototypical teaching concept. It consists of three main competencies:
- Media literacy is conveyed by mediating concepts and techniques for the analysis of media messages and manipulative strategies.
- Discourse literacy enables young people to engage in discussions with peers and parents through the newly acquired skills.
- Acting competence includes the transfer of this knowledge through the support of educational simulation games.
Appropriate methods are being developed, tested and evaluated for use in the classroom. Young people are encouraged to participate in the interaction with topics related to their living environment and 'lifeworld'. All learning and education processes are accompanied pedagogically.
