An unprecedented 185 submissions have been received for the Communications Commission’s third media literacy competition “Truth or Fiction?” The first edition of the competition had 17 participants, while 57 pupils took part in the second edition. The number of participants has now grown eleven-fold. The goal of the competition is to develop critical thinking, analysis and fact-checking skills among youngsters, helping them distinguish real facts from fake news. Applications were open to all 9^th, 10^th and 11^th grade pupils between 14 May and 21 June.

Competition winners will be selected by a competent jury panel. Due to the large number of participants, the submitted works will be evaluated in July. The date of the awards ceremony will be announced to the participants at the end of July. Winners will receive impressive ultramodern prizes, including an iPhone 11 for the first place, an iPad 10.2 for the second place and Beats Studio 3 wireless headphones for the third place.

As part of the competition, participants were required to identify fake news in Georgian media space that had not yet been confirmed as inaccurate. The pupils had to explain how they identified the information, present the relevant sources and establish real facts surrounding the case.