About us

Lie Detectors is an independent, award-winning and journalist-driven media literacy organisation. As Europe’s largest organisation of this kind, its remit is to counter the corrosive effect of online disinformation and polarisation on democracy.​

Lie Detectors empowers young people and teachers to tell fact from fake online and understand how ethical journalism works. It trains teachers to pass this knowledge to students safely and effectively.​

Lie Detectors contributes research and findings from its practical work into advisory and policy-making processes in the fields of education and digital rights. ​

Lie Detectors is non-partisan, its remit universal. Its commitment to take no funding from political parties and none from large online platforms is cited by 77% of teachers as an important or very important factor in their decision to host Lie Detectors. Our trainers comply with ethical guidelines to keep modules age-appropriate, inclusive, accessible and free of political position, as well as in line with the code of the Ethical Journalism Network.

Lie Detectors receives core funding from the Wyss Foundation and is accredited as a charity by the donor-advised fund Myriad. Several of its projects ​are funded via EU grants. It was conceived and founded in 2017 by award-winning journalist Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck as a response to a growing public crisis of confidence in professional journalism.

  • "Everyone needs the skills to be a journalist"

    Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, OECD

  • "I investigated and investigated until I found the answer. It was really cool."

    11-year-old pupil
    Carl-Humann School, Berlin

  • "We're just planting little seeds in their heads: check it out, trust yourself."

    Wilfried Rütten
    Former Director of the European Journalism Centre

  • "Can you come back next week?"

    6th grade pupil
    European School of Brussels, Belgium

  • "Lie Detectors is a powerful answer to disinformation."

    Mariya Gabriel
    Former European Commissioner for Education and Youth

  • "Everybody needs the tools to be a journalist"

    Andreas Schleicher
    OECD Director of Skills and Education

  • "I felt really uplifted, like we can really make a difference out there."

    Anna Mulrine
    CorrespondentThe Christian Science Monitor

  • "Our pupils are hooked. The interest among us teachers is gigantic. We'll ask you back next year."

    Patrick Brauweiler
    High school teacher

We offer workshops in English, French, German and Polish.
Additional language options are in development.

Reach

Our network of 500+ trained journalists allows us to work at scale: Lie Detectors is Europe’s leading provider of journalist-driven media literacy education. We also train teachers internationally.

Lie Detectors’ theory of change: creating a virtuous circle​​

Cooperations and Policy Advice create lasting impact

Insights gathered from EU states inform policy debate​ on education policy and digital rights, within expert advisory processes such as the High-Level Expert Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation and EU Digital Literacy Guidelines. Journalists feed the experience of young audiences into newsrooms.

This creates momentum for policy and support structures underpinning media literacy work, with solutions increasingly integrated into public education infrastructure. Lie Detectors is creating toolkits for newsrooms and education authorities.

Journalists work with students​

We use an award-winning script to train train selected journalists to deliver 90-minute classroom-based workshops​ for children aged 10-15. Classroom sessions are for all school types and localities. They are are interactive, inclusive, non-political and age-appropriate.

Games and tools give children skills to navigate the online information world with curiosity and care. Training is in line with DigComp2.2, EU EDAP and Digital Literacy recommendations.

Teachers are powerful multipliers​

Teachers wishing to teach media literacy can request teacher-training by our most experienced journalists. Workshops of 120-180 minutes emphasise peer learning, games and practical tools for teachers to to work independently and safely with their students. Training is in line with DigComp2.2, Digital Literacy recommendations. Lie Detectors is proud to be a Supportive Partner of eTwinning and a member of the European School Education Platform’s Professional Development Advisory Board.​

Academic evaluation

We gather feedback from journalists, teachers and each of the 26,000+ children we train annually in anonymised GDPR-compliant questionnaires. Created with the help of scientists from Bristol, Munich, Southern Denmark and Sorbonne Universities, surveys facilitate quality control and provide snapshots of children and teacher’s online ability and views. Evaluation reveals young people’s media use habits as well as data on vulnerability and impact, thus allowing Lie Detectors to understand the evolving needs of young people and potential for impactful training.