SafeNet Youth

Training young people to develop their critical faculties in the face of the upheavals brought about by digital technology has become a priority. Recent studies have revealed a worrying trend among young people towards conspiracy theories and scientific untruths, underlining the need for greater awareness.

In November 2022, a survey conducted by IFOP for the Reboot Foundation and the Fondation Jean-Jaurès revealed that 16% of young people believe that the Earth is flat, and that almost 19% of 18-24 year-olds subscribe to the idea that the Egyptian pyramids were built by extraterrestrials. The ‘moon hoax’ theory is also gaining ground: in 2022, 20% of young people believe that Americans have never been to the moon, a significant increase on previous years. The Covid-19 health crisis has exacerbated these conspiracy trends, with one in four young people believing in the effectiveness of chloroquine against the virus, and 32% convinced that messenger RNA vaccines cause irreversible damage to children. In addition to the IFOP survey in 2022, a 2021 survey carried out by the CSA institute with the publisher Milan Presse claimed, for example, that 85% of 10-15 year-olds were seduced by conspiracy theories.

The rise of social networks has profoundly altered young people's information practices, making them more vulnerable to misinformation. Almost 41% of young people using TikTok as a search engine consider popular influencers to be reliable sources of information, an alarming indicator of the lack of critical reasoning in the face of popularity and the appearance of authority on social networks.

In this context, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) poses new challenges. AIs that facilitate the creation and dissemination of fake news and increase the risk of scams (deepfake, fraud, swindling) require a new level of vigilance on the part of young people, who are particularly active on the networks at an increasingly early age.

Similarly, the issues surrounding the use and collection of personal data mean that we need to be more cautious and enlightened in our use of social networks and internet browsing these days.

Digital technology has thus become a space where the risks of disinformation and manipulation are omnipresent, requiring adequate preparation and in-depth knowledge of the dangers and the rights that protect us.

The aim of this project is to bring young Europeans together to raise awareness of the dangers of digital technology and data collection, and to give them the tools they need to develop a critical eye. The aim is to encourage them to be more responsible about sharing their information on social networks and to be wary of unverified information circulating on the internet. It's about working together to create a generation that is better informed and more critical in the face of digital challenges. 

Local events

Youth exchanges

Participating countries: France, Germany, Estonia, Hungary

We are going to delegate 6 young people between age 15-17 and one group leader to the youth exchanges.