Content
In an age filled with information, it's not just important how you find something, but primarily what you do with it. This playlist focuses on Critical Digital Literacy. This includes the technical skills to search, evaluate, and communicate information clearly.
The 'critical' component, however, goes further: it demands a broad understanding of the impact of digital transformation on young people’s lives. You will learn how to help young people critically assess news, social media, and online trends, guiding them to navigate the complexity of the digital society.
Key Focus Areas in this Playlist:
- Searching, evaluating, and communicating information (C4.1).
- Critically reflecting on the impact of digital transformation (C4.2).
About the Digital Competence Check
This playlist is directly linked to Competence Area 4 of the Digital Competence Check Critical digital literacy, which is based on the European DYW SNAC Model. The Check covers 5 areas, 14 specific competences, and 38 indicators, helping you to map your starting proficiency level. By following this playlist, you will specifically target and improve the skills identified as areas for development.
This playlist features activities from the platform, all directly connected to this competence area. It is up to you to decide which activities are the most interesting and relevant for your professional development.
Within each activity, you will find four different badges. One badge is specifically intended for the Youth Worker. There are also badges for the Youth Worker's Manager and for Young People, should you wish to involve them in your development. This joint growth path is essential and is rooted in the Digital Systemic Team approach. Evidence shows that digital youth work is best realised when these four roles (Youth Worker, Manager, Young Person) collaborate.
Activities to complete
Complete the following activities, earn badges and you will see your playlist progress updated
Content
This activity helps young people and youth workers to explore how disinformation spreads online — and how to build resistance against it.
By playing the free online game Bad News, you’ll step into the shoes of a fake news creator to learn firsthand how manipulation tactics work and how to spot them in real life.
By completing this activity, you will:
- Recognise common techniques used to spread misinformation online.
- Strengthen your critical thinking and media literacy.
- Reflect on how youth work can promote information resilience and digital responsibility.
Get inspired
Bad News is an online game that flips the script — you play the villain to understand the system. You’ll build a fake media empire using tactics like trolling, conspiracy, and emotional manipulation. But be careful: tell an obvious lie, and your credibility drops.
The game is based on research that shows prebunking — exposing people to manipulation techniques — helps build psychological resistance to disinformation. Try it here: https://www.getbadnews.com/en
Take action: activities for different roles
Explore the role-specific badges below to access tasks that deepen your understanding of disinformation and how to combat it:
- Young people can independently play the game, reflect on their experience, and explore how online media influences their views and communities.
- Youth workers can use the game as a tool to facilitate workshops, promote media literacy, and open discussions about truth, trust, and influence.
- Youth organisations can reflect on how they address media literacy strategically, and how to design engaging educational experiences using digital tools like Bad News.
Suggested follow up activities include
- Become Disinformation Detective and Analyse Real Posts Together: Find real-world social media posts or news headlines and analyse them using the manipulation techniques learned in Bad News (e.g. emotional language, impersonation, polarisation). Use current examples relevant to your group’s context and aim to practice the identification of disinformation tactics in the wild and build critical thinking skills in young people.
- Create Your Own (Fake) News Campaign and Then Debunk It: Challenge your participants to create a short fake news campaign using memes, headlines, or tweets, based on the Bad News game-play techniques. Then ask each group to present it and debunk another group’s campaign. You can even document the created campaigns and counter-strategies as a toolkit or mini-exhibition to be held in your youth organisation. Aim to reinforce learning through creativity and role-switching in young people who can try to be both “creators” and “critical analysts.”
- Design a Peer Awareness Campaign on Disinformation: Use what was learned in Bad News to co-create a campaign (e.g. TikTok videos, posters, Instagram stories, or a workshop) in which your young people can educate their peers on how disinformation spreads and how to resist it. Use this activity to help youth link this to real-world activism or school/community engagement by using real life examples from your local environment. Aim towards encouragement of peer-to-peer learning and empowering youth as media literacy ambassadors.
Claim open badge recognition
After completing the activities, participants can earn digital badges that recognise competencies in:
- Media and information literacy
- Understanding online manipulation techniques
- Using games for digital learning and youth empowerment
Who created this resource?
This activity is based on the free online game Bad News, developed by Tilt and the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab. The Digital Systemic partnership and the Cities of Learning Network supports the integration of educational games into youth work practice, while reminding on the crucial role of youth workers and other educators in leading reflections and conversations about and around digital games, tools and topics explored by them - by young people.
Next steps: Try more games focused on media literacy and truth, like "Breaking Harmony Square" or "Go Viral!", and run your own youth workshops on responsible online engagement.

Get activity badge
Awarded for completing the interactive activity based on the online game Bad News and reflecting on the dynamics of disinformation, online manipulation, and media credibility. This badge recognises your ability to identify common manipulation techniques and critically evaluate digital content.
Skills and experiences gained
This badge supports the development of:
- Critical media literacy
- Awareness of disinformation techniques
- Ethical thinking in digital environments
- Confidence in identifying and resisting manipulation online
- Reflection on personal or organisational media engagement
You have to finish 2 tasks to get the badge
Tasks
Evidence verified by: self-approved
Play the game Bad News from beginning to end and explore its key mechanics and manipulation strategies. Evidence verified by: one activity organiser
Reflect on Your Learning. Answer a few short reflective questions, such as:
- What techniques did you use in the game to gain followers?
- Which forms of manipulation felt most powerful or dangerous, and why?
- How can this game help others better understand how fake news works?
Evidence verified by: one activity organiser
Apply Your Insights by choosing one of the following:
- Share one real-life example of disinformation you’ve seen online and explain which Bad News tactic it used.
- Create a short post, meme, or visual to raise awareness about manipulation online.
- Write or record a short message (video or audio) on how this game changed the way you view online information.