Belgium Launches First Fake News Summer Camp for Children

In a sunlit community center in the Limburg town of Heers, 15 children are learning a skill that many adults still struggle with: how to tell real news from fake. Belgium has launched its first-ever summer camp dedicated to teaching children aged 9 to 12 how to identify misinformation, deepfakes, and unreliable sources online, as reported by HLN.

A Playful Approach to a Serious Problem

The four-day camp, organized at the request of the Heers municipal government and run by the Leuven-based non-profit Link in de Kabel (LiDK), takes a deliberately fun approach to a weighty subject. Rather than lectures and textbooks, participants engage with quizzes, games, creative projects, and even dodgeball — all designed to build critical thinking skills.

“We focus primarily on fun,” says Lore Beke, the camp facilitator from Link in de Kabel. “We want to teach the children something and explain serious themes, but without a school-like approach.”

From Deepfakes to Green Screens

The camp’s curriculum is hands-on and varied. On a typical morning, children start with a quiz where they must decide whether videos are real or fake by standing in marked zones — a checkmark for real news, a cross for fake. When a deepfake video of footballer Erling Haaland triggers shouts of “Fake!” from the group, Beke reveals she planted it deliberately to test their critical instincts.

Participants learn practical verification tools, including Google’s reverse image search, which allows them to check where a photo has appeared online before. They evaluate real and fabricated news articles, create their own fake news videos using iPads, and experiment with green screen photography to understand how images can be manipulated.

“We start from examples that children actually encounter online,” Beke explains. “We want to work from their world rather than our adult algorithm.”

Bridging the Age Gap

While social media platforms officially require users to be at least 13 years old in Belgium, the camp addresses a well-known reality: many children encounter online content far earlier. Beke notes that at ages 9 to 12, children often still have a high degree of trust in what they see.

“Just because it’s forbidden doesn’t mean children don’t see it,” she says. “At this age, children often still have a lot of trust in what they see. We can teach them which sources are reliable and how to check information.”

One memorable moment during the camp involved a debate over whether you can really buy a house in Italy for one euro. “That’s obviously fake, bro,” one boy declared confidently — until another child mentioned their teacher had said it was true. The ensuing discussion led to exactly the outcome the facilitators hoped for: a child asked, “Can’t we just look it up and check?”

Parent Enthusiasm

Parents have welcomed the initiative with enthusiasm. Greet Jeurissen, mother of participant Karel, says: “I’m very happy that the municipality came up with this camp. He is enormously interested in everything digital. As a parent, you try to teach your child to think critically, but that’s not always easy.”

Jo Van Troos, father of Fons, appreciates the novel approach: “It’s nice that they use tablets to learn something for once, instead of just playing games. It’s something different from the classic sports or language camp.”

A Growing European Movement

Belgium’s initiative follows a broader European trend. Finland, a pioneer in media literacy, has been training children from as young as three to recognize fake news and AI-generated images. The Heers camp, which builds on a smaller “Mediawijs-kamp” held in August 2025 with 27 children, could serve as a template for other Belgian municipalities looking to launch similar programs.

Looking Ahead

The camp raises important questions about the future of media literacy education in Belgium. Will other municipalities follow Heers’ lead? How will the camp’s effectiveness be measured over time? For now, the 15 children in Heers are gaining skills that will serve them well in an increasingly complex information landscape — all while having fun.

As Beke puts it: “Sources are important. Better Karrewiet or nws.nws.nws than an unknown name.”