Évora, Portugal, March 9, 2026 (Lusa) - More than 50 pupils from André de Gouveia Secondary School in Évora took part in a session dedicated to learning how to identify online misinformation, in an initiative that challenged them to analyse manipulated images and verify viral content.
When an image of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo with a Palestinian flag tattooed on his back appeared on the screen, the reactions in the room were swift. Amid comments and some laughter, most students raised their hands to say the same thing: It's fake.
Minutes later, a new challenge left the audience less certain. A photograph of activist Greta Thunberg on a boat, apparently holding a drink, looked convincing and fooled many of the 10th-year students gathered in the school auditorium.
For about 2 hours, 56 students participated in a session on identifying and stopping misinformation circulating on social media. The initiative is part of the educational roadshow of the second edition of the "Pinocchio at School" project, developed by the fact-checking programme 'Polígrafo' in partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
At the beginning of the session, Polígrafo's director of operations, Filipe Pardal, asked the room a simple question: "What is misinformation?"
Cautious answers came from the audience: "not being informed" and "false information".
Both ideas help to arrive at the definition. Disinformation, explained the Polígrafo representative, refers to the intentional dissemination of false or misleading information to manipulate public opinion.
Based on this concept, students are challenged to put their critical thinking skills into practice.
In a series of exercises, they have to distinguish real images from manipulated content. They then analyse viral statements and discuss how they could verify their accuracy.
In one of the examples presented, the question is raised whether a renovated castle in France and a farm in need of renovation in Évora could be sold for the same price.
The audience comes up with an answer that reveals a method: research property developers' websites for prices, compare features, and, if necessary, contact the sellers.
Among the strategies suggested by the Polígrafo manager are checking whether the page publishing the information is credible, seeking confirmation in the media, analysing the publication date, and being wary of spelling mistakes.
Among pupils, daily contact with social media makes misinformation a particularly relevant topic.
Filipa Carvalho is 15 years old, in her 10th year of secondary school, studying socio-economics, and began by saying that she is exposed to a lot of misinformation because "she spends many hours checking feeds on TikTok, Instagram and other apps, and she can't always tell if the information is true or false".
"We often consume too much false information, which leads us to believe things that are completely false," she told Lusa.
From this perspective, she mentioned misinformation surrounding player signings and transfers, which is why she seeks information from various sources.
Filipa Carvalho highlighted the importance of the session, especially in Alentejo, where there is less awareness that a lot of fake news is circulating.
"As much of the information does not happen in Alentejo, we don't know if it's true or false, because we have no way of checking it out locally," she explained.
Afonso Martins, a 10th-year student in the humanities, also participated in the session, considering it "very important to inform young people, because nowadays, on social media, they are bombarded with false information," reflecting that the strategies left by the Polígrafo team help to avoid sharing incorrect information.
The 16-year-old pupil learnt how to identify "fake news": "When I see false information on the internet, I consult several reliable sources of information, because if I only consult one, I am stuck believing only that one. It is always good to see different opinions," he said.
Afonso Martins also mentioned that he belongs to the generation the best able to understand misinformation, so it is important to know how to deal with the phenomenon and surpass previous generations.
In turn, 15-year-old Alice Ascensão, a 10th-year pupil in the socio-economic area, highlighted the role that the session played "in helping people to recognise the problems" that exist and the importance of knowing how to combat them.
The director of Polígrafo explained to Lusa that "nowadays, young people studying in secondary school are much more exposed to misinformation at an early age," compared to previous generations who consumed information through television and newspapers.
In this regard, Filipe Pardal said that the media literacy work done in schools is insufficient because there is a time lag between current challenges and school curricula.
Maria Peres, director of the André de Gouveia school group, considered that media literacy cuts across all subjects, although she believes that an effort is needed between families, schools, communities and the media so that young people can develop critical thinking.
This view was shared by Isabel Gameiro, the session's organiser, who said it was "essential to help students develop critical thinking".
At the end of the session, amid viral examples, impromptu debates and some failed responses, the students came away with a simple rule: before believing or sharing, you need to check.
Lusa asked the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation about the number of media literacy activities it supported in 2025, but received no response.
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