In July 2021, we launched the Debunking Conspiracy Theories project with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sofia. The aim of the project is to throw light upon the origin and the influence of conspiracy theories, to encourage the citizens to be conscious of their hidden risks, despite their “believable” narrative, and to focus on the importance of verified and creditable information. The low levels of media literacy, political erudition and trust in the institutions among the citizens have created a fertile ground for the growth of conspiracy theories. In order to prevent the further development of these tendencies, alongside experts from Ucha.se – the most popular educational platform in Bulgaria – we created five video lessons and five teaching plans on the following topics:

• History and origin of conspiracy theories
• How can conspiracy theories affect us?
• Conspiracy theories and social media
• Conspiracy theories and 5G networks
• History and origin of vaccines

The teaching plans were tested back in June 2022 in three Bulgarian towns (Zlatitsa, Chelopech and Montana) by the team of Sofia Platform Foundation in cooperation with Hermina Emiryan, facilitator, and Yavor Siderov, political scientist. The plans will be available in September 2022 and can be found on the website grajdansko.bg – a free resource platform for civic education teachers, created by the Sofia Platform Foundation.