More than 250 young people gathered in Villach to start the European Tolerance Talks 2018 in order to discuss forward-looking ideas and fundamental questions for a better life. As part of the “Love Tour against Mobbing and Violence in Schools”, a focus of the Carinthian federal Education Bord, the students were given tips and tricks for dealing better with conflict situations, how to fight fake news, hatred and violence and understand each other better, despite different opinions. EU Youth Ambassador Ali Mahlodji started with a presentation on ways to tackle the school and save the world. “We are faced with a world where many people feel left behind, which leads to anger and anger.” However, there is the opportunity to learn from it and to counteract this development through better education, more self-confidence and intelligent media use. Especially young people should take advantage of these opportunities and stop pitying themselves. “If you really want to save the world, you can only start with yourself,” sayd Mahlodji. Afterwards, EU digital ambassador Ingrid Brodnig explained the mechanisms of false announcements and tricks of the populists on the basis of a paper backed up with numerous data and facts. Especially the refugee crisis in 2015 and the Trump election campaign in 2016 with a massive increase in political fake news have shown that such events are particularly well suited to set the mood for false news. Brodnig said it is okay for people to see the world differently, “but it’s not okay if we do not talk anymore.”
