News literacy can help defeat the cognitive biases that we all have, which make us vulnerable to false information. The danger of fake news is that it can inflame social conflict, unjustly influence our elections, harm our mental and physical well being, and damage our democratic institutions and processes. To stop the spread of disinformation and misinformation, everyone needs to know how to identify it. Watch the PSA.
Play our game, VERIFY IT!

Be a more informed citizen

• Engage in Civics in your community
• Challenge your News Literacy skills
• Exercise your Voting Rights
• PLAY VERIFYIT!™

News Literacy and Civics are Important

Civics is important because our democracy depends on active participation by well-informed citizens. A solid civics education should inform us about the rights and responsibilities of citizens, and the roles and functions of government. This empowers us to demand good governance from our elected representatives; claim, defend, and responsibly use our democratic rights; and protect and support our democracy.

We, the LWV of Alameda, have created Verify It!, an online, single-player game designed to help young voters and voters-to-be to evaluate the accuracy and bias of the news media they read, hear, and share, understand and exercise voting rights in California, and be a more informed citizen. However, people of all ages will benefit from playing this game. We are all susceptible to believing misinformation or disinformation, and we must all become informed citizens to exercise our vote and to protect our democracy.

About the Verify It! Game

Verify It! was developed by volunteer members of the League of Women Voters Alameda CA, a non-partisan 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It was designed by the LWV of Alameda Youth Services Committee to address media literacy, citizenship, and voting knowledge and to encourage civic engagement.

In keeping with our mission to empower voters and defend democracy, the committee developed the game to appeal to people of all ages but especially to young voters and future voters – ages 16 to 29 - to encourage them to become informed and active participants in their democracy. We hope that by providing the knowledge and understanding of important issues facing our country today, these young voters will become the League leaders of the future!

All the news articles and some posts have been edited to fit the parameters of the game and its educational design. We have tried to credit all news stories and images where possible. If we have omitted any credits, please email us at VerifyIt [at] lwvalameda.org.