Dismiss
Case study overview
Dismiss is a UK-wide campaign created by Shout Out UK, with support from Ofcom and the Electoral Commission. It helps first-time voters aged 18–24 recognise political disinformation and develop the media literacy skills to respond to it. Rather than simply warning young people about misleading content, Dismiss provides practical ways to check information, question what they see online and make informed political choices. The campaign first launched ahead of the 2024 UK General Election. It was later relaunched around UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week and the Electoral Commission’s Welcome to Your Vote Week, extending its practical support beyond the election period.
How it worked
First-time voters from across the UK helped shape the campaign through interactive co-design workshops. Three focus groups were also held to test the content and evaluate its impact.
The campaign was delivered in English and Welsh across Meta, X, TikTok and YouTube. It included:
- 48 static social media assets
- 10 explainer animations
- An awareness video co-produced with first-time voters and adapted into four formats
- Bilingual campaign landing pages
The content helped young people understand deepfakes, bot accounts, echo chambers and data manipulation. It also gave them practical ways to check whether online information was reliable.
The campaign generated more than 20.3 million impressions and reached over 9.5 million individual users across the UK.
Impact
Among focus group participants, the proportion who felt very confident explaining political disinformation rose from 14% before the campaign to 56% afterwards. The proportion who lacked confidence fell from 51% to 2%, while confidence in having the skills to combat disinformation increased from 32% to 84%.
Five months later, all participants correctly identified AI-generated deepfakes, the impact of bots on elections and the meaning of data manipulation. Half said they were fact-checking articles more frequently.
The campaign also generated more than 73,500 clicks. In landing-page surveys, 83.4% of respondents said they were extremely or very likely to dismiss disinformation in the future.
Key strengths
Short-form video was the strongest part of the campaign. 100% of the focus group participants preferred the animations and co-produced campaign film to the static content.
Young people responded particularly well to practical explanations of deepfakes, bot accounts and echo chambers. The echo chambers topic was highlighted as especially useful.
Participants said the campaign gave them a “better understanding of misinformation and disinformation and how to find out what is correct”. Those who were already familiar with the subject also felt “more confident seeing them defined concretely with examples”.
Involving first-time voters in the campaign’s development helped ensure that its language, examples and presentation felt relevant without being patronising.
Key learning
- Co-design content with a diverse group of young people so it feels authentic and includes different voices and accents.
- Contact social media platforms early to understand political advertising restrictions and opportunities for promotional support.
- Do not assume influencers will make serious political content more credible. Young participants expressed high levels of scepticism towards them.
- Prioritise short-form video when explaining complex topics.
- To build confidence, move beyond defining mis/disinformation. Provide actionable, concrete steps that empower young people to safely navigate algorithms and check sources.
Further information
For more information please visit the Dismiss website.