Game teaches players how to identify misinformation about Covid-19

The UK government has partnered with the University of Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Lab and the Dutch media agency Drog to design a game that teaches people how to recognize fake news about the Covid-19 pandemic.

The game teaches players about the tactics used to spread misinformation and challenges them to use those techniques to become a successful media manipulator. In the process, players are shown how to identify common manipulation techniques like the use of emotional language to spark fear and outrage or the naming of fake experts to support their baseless claims.

"By exposing people to the tactics behind fake news we can help create a general ‘inoculation’, rather than trying to counter each specific falsehood", exaplins Melisa Basol, a Cambridge Gates scholar.

According to Cambridge’s statement, the game “builds on research from Cambridge psychologists that found by giving people a taste of the techniques used to spread fake news on social media, it increases their ability to identify and disregard misinformation in the future.” And the team behind the creation of the game has also released a study suggesting that “a single play of a similar game can reduce susceptibility to false information for at least three months.”

The game is now available in English, German and French but the team is working on more translations in the hopes of spreading the game worldwide and contributing to a society more prepared to fight and identify misinformation.

Adapted from:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90563255/covid-19-conspiracies-go-viral-game
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/goviral

Play the game: https://www.goviralgame.com/en

https://youtu.be/oiEXX_fBZnw