Gen Z and Alpha: fighting misinformation in the age of fake news

Truth or Illusion? Welcome to the Post-Truth Era

A world leader declares war in a viral video—except it never happened. A shocking statistic spreads like wildfire on Instagram—except it’s completely fabricated. A TikTok influencer “exposes” mainstream media lies—except their sources are equally dubious.

Welcome to the post-truth era, where facts compete with feelings and reality, giving rise to another narrative stream.

For Generation Z and Alpha (born between 1995 and 2009 and 2010 and 2024, respectively), this isn’t just a societal shift—it’s their native environment. Unlike earlier generations, who grew up with shared truths from newspapers, national broadcasters, and classrooms, today’s youth are navigating a complex web of fragmented realities shaped by algorithms, influencers, and emotionally driven content.

Why emotions beat facts

Social media platforms are not designed to prioritize truth. They prioritize engagement. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube promote content that sparks clicks, likes, and shares—not necessarily what is accurate.  According to the EU Kids Online Report (2023), European teens spend, on average, over 9 hours a day consuming digital media, mostly from peer-driven sources or unregulated influencers.  This shift in consumption creates what researchers call an “emotional economy,” where emotionally charged content outperforms well-researched reporting.  When truth becomes subjective and constantly shifting, trust becomes more complicated to earn—and easier to exploit.

Deepfakes and distorted realities

Deepfakes and synthetic media have ushered in a new crisis of credibility:

• 2025 Incident: A deepfake of a European leader announcing martial law went viral for 14 hours before being debunked—by then, stock markets had already reacted.

• 2024 EU Elections: Disinformation campaigns targeted young voters with fake news on immigration and inflation, leading to a documented 6% swing in voter perception (European Digital Media Observatory, 2024).

When misinformation is corrected, its emotional impact has often cemented false beliefs.

Skeptical but still susceptible

Gen Z and Alpha are digital natives. They don’t trust institutions blindly. They fact-check via group chats. They discuss misinformation in comments. But their skepticism can backfire. It can breed disengagement, fatigue, and a retreat into echo chambers.  This paradox is dangerous: distrust of media leads some young people to trust no one, except influencers who mirror their biases.  In a world where truth is increasingly negotiated rather than accepted, the question isn’t just what Gen Z and Alpha believe, but who helps them decide. From policymakers and platforms to parents, teachers, and AI itself, a new constellation of actors is shaping how young people learn to navigate, question, and resist misinformation.

How can we teach truth in a post-truth world?

1. Media literacy = emotional literacy. It’s not enough to verify sources. We must teach young people to understand why they believe something. What biases are at play? What emotional triggers are being exploited?
2. Algorithmic education Students must ask: “Why am I seeing this?” Platforms shape perception through curation. Recognizing that influence is the first step to resisting it.
3. Normalize disagreement Schools and families must reintroduce respectful debate. Disagreement isn’t dangerous. It’s the foundation of democratic discourse.
4. Experiential learning. Projects like the “Bad News” and “Go Viral” games—European online simulations that mimic fake news tactics—have been shown to improve resilience against disinformation through inoculation theory.

What Europe is doing: policies and platforms

France, Finland, and the Netherlands have introduced mandatory school digital literacy programs.
The Digital Services Act (2024) now requires platforms to offer algorithmic transparency and clear labeling of misinformation.  NGOs and European youth networks are developing peer-led fact-checking movements, especially on Discord and Reddit.

The role of AI: cure or catalyst?

AI plays both sides:

• As a shield: Tools like InVID and FactCheckEU use AI to detect image manipulation and trace misinformation sources.
• As a weapon: Unchecked recommendation algorithms can deepen belief silos and amplify conspiracy networks.

Parents, teachers, and influencers: the human firewall

Combating misinformation isn’t just technical. It’s cultural. It requires:

• Parents who talk with their children about digital content do not just set screen-time rules.
• Educators who teach context, history, and argumentation—not just fact memorization.
• Influencers who recognize their ethical responsibility as informal educators.

Conclusion: a generation of gatekeepers

A fact-check banner won’t save Gen Z and Alpha. They must become their gatekeepers of truth. The tools are emerging, and so is the awareness. But what’s needed now is a cultural shift. Not toward censorship but toward curiosity, not toward silence but toward structured dialogue, not toward nostalgia for a world of Walter Cronkite but toward a future where moral clarity matches digital fluency. The post-truth era is not just a crisis. It’s an invitation to build something better.