THE FAKE NEWS FACTORY
About the project
The Fake News Factory is an interactive media-literacy project that teaches you how online disinformation is built - so you can recognise and neutralise it. It is based on prebunking, a method developed and validated by the University of Cambridge and Google Jigsaw.
I conceived, designed and built the whole project myself - from the academic research behind the method, to every line of code of the two web pages, the bilingual translations, the visual materials and the accompanying teaching notes.
How it started
It all began with a simple assignment in my Social Studies class, from my teacher Mrs Grigore Gabriela-Amalia: “Build a project about disinformation that you would present to your classmates.” Instead of a poster or a slideshow, I chose a radically different approach: I built an interactive simulator where anyone - a classmate, a teacher or a parent - can step into the role of a fake-news producer and build a manipulative story, step by step. The idea was simple but powerful: you cannot recognise a trap you have never experienced from the inside.
When I started, it never crossed my mind that the project might leave the walls of the classroom. In a few weeks of intense work, it became much bigger than a school assignment.
How it works - two pages, one ecosystem
The Simulator
The main page turns you, step by step, into a fake-news producer. You build a manipulative story using the 6 classic techniques studied at Cambridge and Google Jigsaw, see how social-media algorithms amplify it, and finish with a 5-second filter and a concrete checklist you can use whenever you spot suspicious content online.
looksmart.ro/fakenewsfactoryThe Fact-Checker
The second page turns theory into practice. You paste a story, headline or post that looks suspicious, and the checker shows you whether the text uses any of the 6 manipulation techniques - with the exact words found and an educational risk score. It never rules “true” or “false” (that's a journalist's job); it only tells you how manipulative the writing is and recommends 5 concrete verification steps. Everything stays in your browser - nothing is sent or stored.
looksmart.ro/fakenewsfactory/fact-check.htmlThe competition & the result
I entered the project in «Mème la vérité: Démasque la désinfo», a regional competition organised by Freedom House Romania together with the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (Montenegro) and Transparency International Moldova, with the support of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. It was open to high-school students from Romania, Moldova and Montenegro, as part of the regional project E-MPACT - Mobilization Against Disinformation.
In early July 2026, The Fake News Factory was designated a winner of the «Mème la vérité: Démasque la désinfo» competition. As part of the prize, I was invited to the international study visit in Bucharest, alongside the other winners from Romania, Moldova and Montenegro - including meetings with journalists, disinformation experts and civic organisations.
In July 2026, The Fake News Factory earned a second distinction: the Better World grant of Grant My Passion 2026, a national programme run by McDonald's Romania with the support of The Social Incubator, which backs young people whose ideas drive sustainability, social responsibility and real community impact. The project is now a double-award-winning initiative.
What makes it different
It never says what is true or false - that's a journalist's job. It gives you the tools to decide for yourself.
Every page, explanation and material is available in Romanian and English, so it can be used anywhere.
The fact-checker runs entirely in your browser. No text ever leaves your device; nothing is stored.
The prebunking method is validated by studies with thousands of participants (Cambridge, Bristol, Google Jigsaw, Science Advances 2022). The checker covers 700+ Romanian manipulation patterns.
The design, the code, the translations, the visuals, the copywriting - all of it. No template, no auto-generated framework. Line by line.
The 6 vaccine cards
Beyond the simulator and the checker, I built a series of 6 educational memes - “vaccine cards” a teenager can save on their phone or share in seconds. Each one attacks a single manipulation technique with one strong message - the same 6 techniques the simulator teaches from the inside and the checker detects in real texts. A good meme reaches the mind faster than any article, and stays there.
My message
“My generation doesn't have to be the easiest to fool online. It can be the hardest. And I'm doing this with everything I've got - because no one is going to do it for us.”
Credits
- For the «Mème la vérité: Démasque la désinfo» prize: With thanks to Freedom House, organiser together with the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (Montenegro) and Transparency International Moldova, with the support of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
- For the Grant My Passion 2026 - Better World prize: With sincere thanks to McDonald's Romania and The Social Incubator, who invest in young people turning their ideas into real-world impact - and who chose to back this one.
- Mrs Grigore Gabriela-Amalia, Romanian-Finnish High School, Bucharest - who set the assignment this project grew from.
The Fake News Factory · built line by line by Nicholas
The Fake News Factory concept, its two web tools, the 6 vaccine cards and all the materials on this page are my own work and intellectual property.
I share them here so my work can be understood and appreciated, and so that future participants and teachers can draw inspiration from them and use them in the classroom.
They may not be copied, reproduced or used commercially without my written permission.