Citation: Cernicova-Buca, M.; Ciurel, D. Developing Resilience to Disinformation: A Game-Based Method for Future Communicators. Sustainability 2022, 14, 5438. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095438 Academic Editors: Alfonso Chaves-Montero, Javier Augusto Nicoletti, Francisco José García-Moro and Walter Federico Gadea-Aiello Received: 22 March 2022 Accepted: 29 April 2022 Published: 30 April 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Developing Resilience to Disinformation: A Game-Based Method for Future Communicators Mariana Cernicova-Buca * and Daniel Ciurel Department of Communication and Foreign Languages, Politehnica University Timis , oara, 300006 Timis , oara, Romania; daniel.ciurel@upt.ro * Correspondence: mariana.cernicova@upt.ro Abstract: This paper analyzes the outcomes of a game-based educational process aiming to strengthen resilience to fake news. An innovative approach that considers linguistic choices as bases for manipu- lating information is used in an online classroom environment, students in communication being invited to understand, explain and reflect upon framing and information credibility, using as a topic of inquiry the refugee crisis of 2021 in Romania. Cognitive learning outcomes as well as learning dynamics were assessed using pre- and end-of game surveys. The results of the game are discussed in relation with the instructional goal to facilitate the understanding of communicative social actions, learning about disinformation that is deliberately misleading, as well as finding ways to break the disinformation code. The debriefing discussions after each stage of the game encouraged students to reflect upon their newly gained insights and increase their critical thinking capacity, in the effort to ensure a sustainable education in communication studies. The paper has the potential to enrich the educational strategies with innovative methods helping future professionals navigate the complex world of media messages. Keywords: disinformation; fake news; serious game-playing; CRAAP test; resilience; media literacy; sustainable education 1. Introduction Students are heavy users of social networks, and active and significant participants to the digital public sphere, as a place of information, contestation, organization, discussion and political, social, educational and ethical struggle. They are also the most vulnerable target categories to disinformation and propaganda since they have not fully formed critical thinking skills and are prone to confusion and gullibility. A sustainable education equips them with critical skillsets that allow swift identification of fake news, disinformation and propaganda. In a turbulent informational ecosystem and in a participatory media culture, news literacy becomes a pivotal skill. 1.1. Background and Importance Disinformation and false information, often referred to as fake news do not constitute a novel phenomenon. Media literacy initiatives to enable the general public to critically evaluate media messages formally date back to UNESCO’s declaration of 1982, known as the Grünwald Declaration on Media Education [1]. Ever since, a variety of international organizations, universities and media outlets called for the necessity to raise people’s capacity to access, understand and critically evaluate media via reducing the deficit in media literacy across the world, either in formal educational programs or in an informal context. The diversification of media, the advent of digital extensions of communication, the multiplication of platforms that carry information led to the necessity of developing new tools to foster independent critical thinking and build resilience against false information, as underlined by UNESCO in the 2020 Seoul Declaration on Media and Information Literacy for Everyone and by Everyone. It bluntly states that “media and information literacy Sustainability 2022, 14, 5438. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095438 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability