Education for democracy in the digital age: judging and reacting to misinformation

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the socio-economic determinants influencing the ability to detect misinformation and the likelihood of its sharing across four European countries: Germany, Ireland, Poland, and Spain. Our findings reveal significant variations in media literacy and sharing behaviors influenced by demographic, ideological, and social factors (Montolio & Riambau, 2025). The findings underscore the complexity and potential biases associated with political information. Our results also have significant implications for understanding the dynamics of information spread on social media. The tendency to share fake or sensational news more than true news underscores the challenges in combating misinformation (Montolio & Riambau, 2025). Misinformation and disinformation affect all subject areas of formal education. Therefore, it should be conceived as a transversal and iterative task across all subject areas, so that the judgment of information forms part of the digital behavior patterns of all citizens.