Lycée Albert-Ier hosts debate on youth and fake news
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
Media experts met sixth-formers at Lycée Albert-Ier to discuss how young people in Monaco spot fake news online.
Students at Lycée Albert-Ier spent a morning this week grappling with a question that sounds absurd until you hear the answer: is it really so bad to believe Michael Jackson is still alive? The session, led by information specialists invited into the school, used the claim as a starting point to explore how conspiracy theories and misinformation spread among teenagers on social media.
The discussion drew on findings from the latest Baromètre de la Jeunesse, which found that seven in ten young people in France follow the news, most of them through platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube rather than traditional outlets. Teachers and media literacy experts used the figures as a prompt to ask pupils how they decide what to trust online, and how often they check a source before sharing it.
For parents and educators in Monaco, the exercise points to a wider concern that sits behind the headline numbers: young people are consuming more news than ever through unverified channels, often without the tools to separate fact from fabrication. The lycée's organisers said the aim was not to lecture students but to get them talking openly about how they navigate a media landscape where misinformation travels faster than corrections.