Author:

Matteo Bergamini MBE, CEO/Founder, Shout Out UK

Abstract:

The DISMISS campaign, led by Shout Out UK (SOUK) in collaboration with Ofcom and the Electoral Commission, tackled political disinformation aimed at young voters during the 2024 UK General Election. By foregrounding engaging digital content and co-creating with young audiences, the campaign achieved a reach of over 9 million, improved media literacy skills among its target audience, and fostered behavioural change. Short-form videos and animations proved especially effective, while key partnerships amplified impact. This post explores how DISMISS might serve as a blueprint for scaleable, audience-centred media literacy initiatives, emphasising collaboration, platform-specific strategies, and long-term engagement to combat misinformation and empower a generation of informed, critical thinkers.

Started in 2015 whilst I was still at university, aged 22, Shout Out UK (SOUK) has become a multi-award winning social enterprise that provides impartial Political and Media Literacy training and campaigns focused on democratic engagement and combatting disinformation online, tailored to local circumstances and culture. In an age where disinformation is rife, SOUK is on a mission to defend and amplify democracy by ensuring all young people are trained to critically evaluate political and media messages.  We create impartial programmes on Media & Political Literacy and high impact Democratic Engagement campaigns, which combine leading-edge tech, practitioner-led educational resources and creative content strategy. SOUK has worked with many partners, including Ofcom, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Greater London Authority, the US Embassy in London, the US State Department and NATO.

2024 has been a critical year for democracy with an unprecedented number of elections taking place around the world, amid a climate of rising geopolitical instability.  Additionally, the rapid development of AI technology and its increasing deployment in online mis and disinformation including deep fake video content has transformed the landscape of political campaigning. Conducting much of their lives via algorithmically defined social media, young people often find themselves at the centre of a web of information overload and disinformation traps.

The 2024 UK General Election and UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy (GMIL) Week provided a timely backdrop for the DISMISS campaign—a bold and ambitious initiative aimed at equipping 18–24-year-olds with the tools to navigate political disinformation. Designed and led by Shout Out UK (SOUK), in collaboration with Ofcom and the Electoral Commission, we defined ‘political disinformation’ as false or misleading information spread to achieve political gain. The campaign focused on five themes: dis/misinformation, bot accounts, echo chambers, harmful deepfakes and data manipulation. By prebunking these political disinformation techniques with first-time voters, we aimed to ensure first-time voters were able to remain resilient to manipulation when casting their vote. We believe our campaign offers valuable insights for media literacy practitioners worldwide.

In this blog, we will examine the campaign’s vision, execution, outcomes, and how the results might influence future media literacy programmes.

From Vision to Action: An early strategy pivot

Originally conceived as a dual initiative involving both a digital campaign and national in-person hackathons, DISMISS faced an early test of agility. The announcement of a snap UK General Election by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in May 2024, and the subsequent truncated timeline, necessitated a pivot to an entirely digital strategy. Harnessing platforms where young people are most active—Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and YouTube—the campaign delivered an engaging mix of informative content. From animated videos to static assets and an awareness-raising explainer video, DISMISS messaging spoke directly to the UK’s youth audience in both English and Welsh.

The methodology of the campaign involved several key steps:

• Co-design workshops: These workshops engaged 18-24 year olds, across the UK, to ensure the campaign resonated with the target audience. Feedback emphasised the preference for short-form videos, scepticism of influencers, and the need for skills-based learning, including a focus on deepfakes.
• Content Creation: Based on workshop feedback, the campaign developed a range of digital resources, including static assets, animations, and an awareness-raising video, all designed to be easily shareable on social media platforms like Meta, X, TikTok, and YouTube.
• Platform Adaptation: The campaign recognised the need to tailor content to different platform policies and functionalities. This involved adjusting content, reallocating budgets, and capitalising on opportunities like X’s “timeline takeover” to maximise reach.
• Multi-phase Approach: The campaign ran in two phases: the first in the run up to the UK General Election, and the second during UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week. This allowed for iterative learning and optimisation of content and ad strategies.
• Evaluation: The campaign utilised a mixed-methods approach to evaluate its impact, including social media metrics, landing page surveys, and focus groups. This allowed for a comprehensive understanding of reach, engagement, and changes in awareness and online habits.

Exceeding expectations

While the initial target was a reach of 300,000 individuals, the DISMISS campaign considerably over-delivered on these expectations, underscoring the immense potential of strategic digital initiatives.

Massive Reach: Across the General Election and GMIL Week phases, DISMISS achieved a combined reach of over 9 million and generated over 20 million impressions. This far exceeded the initial reach target, validating our co-designed content strategy.

Successful engagement plan: Short-form animations and videos drove most engagement, with content dealing with misinformation and harmful deepfakes particularly effective. These formats clearly resonated with the target audience, triggering critical discussions.

Empowered Audiences: In focus groups, participants reported increased confidence in identifying and dismissing political disinformation. This confidence translated into improved media literacy habits online, with many noting they now fact-check more rigorously and critically evaluate the content they encounter.

Quantitative feedback from focus group participants five months post DISMISS campaign:

• 100% of focus group participants were able to accurately recall what the campaign was about
• 100% of participants found dynamic content such as the animation and video to be the most engaging format of content
• The percentage of participants who said they did not feel comfortable explaining what political disinformation decreased from 13% to 0%
• Confidence in skills to combat political disinformation increased to 25% from 0%
• Confidence in explaining the role of media and technology in elections increased from 33% to 80%
• 100% of participants were able to identify a deepfake from a selection of photos
• 100% of participants were able to identify the main difference between mis and disinformation
• 80% were able to identify what to do to get out of an echo chamber

The campaign’s data-driven approach to measuring impact highlights its ability not just to educate and inform an audience, but to enact behavioural change.

Collaboration and Co-Creation: Keys to Success

A campaign of this scale and impact required strong partnerships. The collaboration between SOUK, Ofcom, and the Electoral Commission ensured that the campaign remained politically impartial and anchored in expertise. Social media platforms also played a critical role, amplifying the campaign’s message and ensuring broad reach.

Equally important was the inclusion of young people in the co-design process. By actively involving the target audience, DISMISS was able to develop content and messages that felt authentic, relatable, and culturally relevant. For practitioners in the field, this underscores the importance of creating with—not just for—the audience.

These twin strategies culminated in a groundbreaking partnership with X two weeks ahead of the election to promote our innovative public awareness video. Professionally filmed, and co-produced by first-time voters, the video featured a young woman (also a real first-time voter) on her way to vote, physically dismissing disinformation as she moved through the streets. The video conveyed a positive and upbeat message, leaving the audience with a sense of empowerment about dismissing disinformation and dispelling voter apathy. On 22nd June, a timeline takeover drove over 9 million impressions to X users in the UK.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Future Campaigns

The success of DISMISS offers valuable insights for building better media literacy campaigns moving forward. Here are some key takeaways and recommendations for future initiatives:

1. Collaboration is Key:

• Lesson: Partnerships with regulatory bodies, independent organisations, and platform providers enhance credibility and reach.
• Recommendation: Expand partnerships to include more organisations, educators, and influencers to further diversify impact and reach wider audiences.

2. Prioritise Engaging Formats:

• Lesson: Short-form videos and animations outperform static or text-heavy formats, especially when addressing complex topics like disinformation.
• Recommendation: Adapt content to the unique features of each platform. Utilise short-form video format for creative engagement and longer format for in-depth explainers.

3. Invest in Robust Evaluation:

• Lesson: Go beyond simple reach and impressions. Utilise surveys, focus groups, and longitudinal studies to gain deeper insights into behavioural shifts and long-term impacts.
• Recommendation: Continue to employ diverse evaluation methods to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and inform future strategies.

4. Embrace Audience-Centric Design:

• Lesson: Co-designing content with young people ensures messages resonate authentically, leading to more meaningful engagement.
• Recommendation: Maintain a youth-centred approach to content creation to ensure relevance and foster genuine engagement.

5. Foster Long-Term Engagement:

• Lesson: While one-off campaigns can be impactful, sustained engagement strategies are crucial for deepening understanding over time.
• Recommendation: Develop ongoing educational series, follow-up initiatives, and integrate campaign content into broader media literacy curricula to embed legacy resources and empower future generations.

By embracing these recommendations, future media literacy campaigns can build upon the success of DISMISS and effectively combat disinformation. Elections around the world will face different challenges when it comes to political disinformation, depending on the context and technology of the moment. By equipping the electorate with critical thinking, emotional resilience and an understanding of the techniques used to manipulate, as well as the tools to combat this, we can build more resilient democracies for years to come.

Why It Matters

The DISMISS campaign is a powerful reminder of the stakes in the fight against political disinformation. As digital natives, young people are both uniquely vulnerable to online manipulation and uniquely positioned to disrupt it—if given the right tools. By leveraging the lessons of DISMISS, media literacy practitioners can build more effective, engaging, and impactful campaigns which not only inform but can transform how young people navigate the digital world.

At SOUK, we are proud that our DISMISS campaign continues to grow and provide more young people with the digital literacy they need to fact check the online world. All materials are available for download in both English and Welsh. With plans for expanded resources and outreach, the campaign is building societal resilience against disinformation, preparing today’s voters to shape tomorrow’s informed decisions.

The challenge for our future in an increasingly balkanised media environment is clear: equip the next generation with the skills to not just survive in the information age but to thrive as informed, critical thinkers. Campaigns like DISMISS are at the cutting edge of this way forward, blending innovation with collaboration to make, and leave, a lasting impact.