The head of the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, Ilma Skuodienė, notes that a strong bond with the child today becomes one of the most important means of their safety.
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“A child who feels heard, accepted, and knows they can turn to an adult at any time is much more resilient to various threats – not only in real life but also in the digital space. When a child knows they can talk about anything at home, the likelihood that they will seek answers only on social networks or unreliable information sources significantly decreases,” she says.
Tomas Čeponis, a representative of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Strategic Communications Department, draws attention to the fact that the battle for young minds is ongoing: “Propaganda spreaders operating in the information space aim to cultivate a young person who is disappointed with their country, who thinks that we are small and powerless. And speaking about the broader Western audience, the goal is to divide people, create distrust, which later leads to non-cooperation.”
According to the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the use of propaganda among children and youth is no accident. Young people become one of the most important audiences because they receive a large part of their information from social networks.
The goal of propaganda – to intimidate and create confusion
At the Child Rights Defenders forum, Lithuanian Armed Forces representative T. Čeponis emphasized that propaganda today rarely looks like what we are used to imagining. It is not necessarily presented as an obvious lie. Often it hides behind emotional videos, comments from alleged experts, or sensational stories.
One of the most commonly used tools is intimidation. According to specialists, fear remains one of the most effective propaganda techniques because it weakens the ability to rationally evaluate information and encourages impulsive decisions. In this way, the aim is to reduce trust, increase anxiety, and form the belief that the situation is hopeless.
Another feature of propaganda is the abundance of contradictory messages. Lithuanian Armed Forces analysts have repeatedly pointed out that propaganda messages often contradict each other. Their goal is not necessarily to convince with one specific version. Sometimes the most important thing is to create confusion so that a person no longer knows what to believe at all.
“We take care of whether the child is dressed, has eaten, is safe, but what is in their head and heart is much harder to check and take care of. I wonder if we can trust a soldier whose mind does not hold our state’s narrative. It is just as bad when the minds and hearts of our younger generation contain information that is not favorable to our state,” notes T. Čeponis.
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We take care of whether the child is dressed, has eaten, is safe, but what is in their head and heart is much harder to check and take care of. I wonder if we can trust a soldier whose mind does not hold our state’s narrative.
The most important skill – critical thinking
That is why critical thinking today becomes one of the most important skills for children. Children should be able to recognize emotionally driven messages, verify the source of information, look for additional facts, and understand that a large number of likes or shares does not necessarily mean the information is reliable.
Child rights defenders emphasize that resilience to propaganda begins in the family. Parents should be interested in what content children see on social networks, who they communicate with, and what information sources they choose. Equally important is creating an environment where the child is not afraid to ask questions and talk about the information seen online.
What we post online can become a tool in others’ hands
Moreover, on social networks, it is important not only to be able to recognize false information but also to responsibly evaluate the content we create ourselves. Child rights defenders remind that every post, photo, or video becomes part of a digital footprint, and information posted online can be used in a completely different context than originally intended.
Creators of propaganda and disinformation often use publicly available information, extracting individual quotes, photos, or video fragments and giving them new meaning. Therefore, before sharing content, it is worth pausing and considering whether this information is accurate, whether it incites hatred and division, whether it reveals too much personal data, and whether it could be used to manipulate others.
“Responsible behavior online begins with understanding that social networks are not a private space, and the ability to responsibly publish information today becomes no less important than the ability to select it,” says child rights defenders’ leader I. Skuodienė.
If you have questions, we invite you to watch Child Rights TV or consult with child rights defenders by calling the toll-free number 0 800 10 800; you can also send a message in the chat box on the website vaikoteises.lrv.lt. Reports of child rights violations can be made at the nearest child rights protection department, by filling out a form on the Service’s website, or by calling the Emergency Services contact number 112.
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