Enhancing Misinformation Response Skills: Recruiting Middle and High Schools for the "Youth Fact-Check Competition"

Educational Program Offered to 24 Middle and High Schools Nationwide
Includes Training on New Types of Misinformation
Nine Teams to Be Selected and Awarded Prizes

The Broadcasting, Media and Communications Committee and the Audience Media Foundation are recruiting 24 middle and high schools to participate in the "2026 National Youth Fact-Check Competition," which aims to enhance teenagers' ability to respond to misinformation. Applications are open until February 20.

The National Youth Fact-Check Competition is an integrated educational program that connects with curricula such as the Free Semester System and school clubs at middle and high schools nationwide. Over the course of a semester, students receive training on how to respond to misinformation, and their educational outcomes are evaluated and awarded as part of the competition.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Korean teenagers have below-average abilities when it comes to comparing sources of online information and evaluating their credibility. While Korea consistently ranks among the top globally in mathematics, reading, and science, activities such as verifying online sources and discussing their accuracy with others fall short of the OECD average.

Recently, deepfake crimes have become a serious issue, with teenagers making up the largest proportion of both perpetrators and victims. According to the National Office of Investigation of the Korean National Police Agency, teenagers accounted for 61.8% of suspects in deepfake crimes committed between November 2024 and October 2025. Statistics from the National Center for Victims of Digital Sex Crimes show that, over the past year, 46.4% of deepfake victims were also teenagers. With most perpetrators being teenagers and many cases involving peer victims, the importance of digital crime prevention and education for youth is increasing.

The foundation also plans to make education on responding to new types of misinformation that exploit digital technologies a mandatory part of the curriculum.

Participating students will create and submit fact-checking activity sheets and card news as part of the program. Based on the evaluation results, a total of nine teams will be selected and awarded prizes: one Grand Prize (Chairperson of the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Committee Award), two Excellence Awards, two Merit Awards, and four Encouragement Awards (all presented by the Chairperson of the Audience Media Foundation).

The foundation supports youth in developing the ability to independently verify the authenticity of information through misinformation response education. It offers a variety of free educational programs at 12 Audience Media Centers nationwide, aiming to enhance critical understanding and media literacy in a rapidly changing media environment.

Choi Cheolho, Chairperson of the Audience Media Foundation, stated, "Just as leading digital countries abroad include misinformation response education in all curricula, our foundation will also actively address the growing seriousness of fabricated and manipulated information by expanding information literacy education throughout public education and across the entire life cycle."

Schools wishing to participate can download the application form for the "2026 National Youth Fact-Check Competition School Recruitment Notice" from the notices section on the Audience Media Foundation website and submit it by February 20.