Misinformation and Disinformation Among Seniors: An Innovative Educational Program To Strengthen The Media Literacy of The Elderly

This article presents the results of a study on the implementation of an innovative training programme aimed at improving media competence among seniors. The research was conducted in the Małopolska and Podkarpacie voivodeships (Poland) as part of the REMEDIS project. The programme consisted of workshops that covered topics such as protection against disinformation, recognising media manipulation and securing personal data. The training program consisted of four main areas: 1) Acquisition of knowledge relating to the functioning of the media; 2) Acquiring knowledge of how to resist manipulation of media content; 3) Acquiring knowledge of how to protect against phishing and various forms of online attacks; 4) Acquire a basic understanding of AI's ability to manipulate and create false content. A total of 116 seniors participated in the study (training activities were implemented in 2024), and post-test results indicate a significant improvement in participants' knowledge and skills. Analysis of the results showed that metric age and educational level did not have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the programme, suggesting its universality. The article highlights the need to further adapt the educational materials to make them more accessible to groups with lower initial competences. In addition, it is noted that basic digital competence does not affect the effectiveness of reinforcing media competence in terms of protection against manipulation. Thus, digital competence and media competence in the scope analysed are not areas that are in close relation to each other.