Voting Is a Right. Understanding Misinformation Is a Skill

Before Students Vote, Teach Them How to Spot a Lie

A student opens TikTok between classes and sees a video claiming that a candidate committed voter fraud. The clip is blurry. The caption is angry. Thousands of people have shared it. Within minutes, it feels true. But feeling true is not the same as being true.

College students are about to become one of the most important groups of voters in the country. Two-thirds of college students say they are extremely likely to vote in the 2026 midterm elections, according to a survey from Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Yet many students still lack information about candidates and issues on the ballot.

That is why colleges should require every student to complete a practical media-literacy course before they vote. This should not be a class that tells students what to believe. It should teach them how to find reliable information, question viral posts, and recognize manipulation. Voting is a right. Understanding misinformation is a skill.

Students live online

Most college students already get news from social media. A national survey of nearly 63,000 undergraduates found that 87% get news from social media, more than from television or online newspapers. Young adults are also more likely than older Americans to trust information they see on social media as much as information from national news organizations according to an article from Pew Research Center on Young Adults and the Future of News 

That does not mean social media is worthless. It can expose students to perspectives they would not see on television and help them learn about issues quickly. But it also rewards speed, outrage, and attention. A post does not need to be accurate to spread, it only needs to make people feel something.

The danger is real. In a 2026 Pew Research Center survey across 37 countries, a median of 79% of respondents said internet and social media access has made it easier to manipulate people with false information. In the United States, 64% said social media is bad for democracy. Students should not be expected to navigate that environment without training.

Media literacy works

Some people assume misinformation cannot be fixed because the internet moves too fast. The evidence says otherwise.

Researchers at Stanford found that students who completed six 50-minute digital-literacy lessons became twice as likely to identify questionable websites. A study published in PNAS ( Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) also found that a short media-literacy intervention helped people better distinguish false headlines from mainstream news and reduced belief in false information.

These lessons do not need to be complicated. Students can learn to check who originally posted a claim, search for coverage from more than one outlet, identify sponsored content, and ask whether a video has been edited or taken out of context. They can also learn how artificial intelligence can create convincing fake images, voices, and videos.

Media literacy is not about becoming cynical. It is about becoming careful.

Voting affects everyone

A vote is personal, but its consequences are public. Elections determine policies on student debt, housing, health care, jobs, climate, and war. When voters make decisions based on false claims, everyone lives with the results.

College students are especially exposed to political messaging. Campaigns, interest groups, influencers, and foreign actors all understand that short videos and emotional posts can reach young voters faster than traditional news. Pew found that 87% of Americans believe social media makes it easier to manipulate people with false information, while 81% say it increases political division.

A required media-literacy course would not solve every problem. No class can stop every lie. But it can give students a basic defense before they enter the voting booth.

The other side

Critics may say that requiring media literacy insults young voters. They may argue that students are adults and should be trusted to decide what information they believe.

That concern is fair. Students should never be told which party to support or which candidate to choose. But requiring media literacy is not the same as controlling political beliefs. Colleges already require students to take courses in writing, math, and science because those skills prepare them for life after graduation. Media literacy prepares them for civic life.

The goal is not to make students skeptical of everything. The goal is to make them thoughtful about where information comes from and how it reaches them. A student who checks a source before sharing a post is not less free. That student is more prepared.

A responsibility, not a restriction

Paying for college is supposed to prepare students for the real world. That world includes misleading headlines, edited videos, political ads, and AI-generated content. If colleges expect students to participate in democracy, they should prepare them to do it responsibly.

Require a short media-literacy course before students vote. Teach them how to verify a claim, recognize bias, and pause before sharing. Democracy does not fail only when people cannot vote. It weakens when people vote without knowing what is true.