Ask any high school student what they like to do in their spare time, and you will hear a familiar chorus of answers: hang out with friends, scroll through social media, play video games, or practice a sport. For 17-year-old Chloe Kizito of Kitchener, Ontario, however, the answer is a little different. Chloe spends her free time hunting down misinformation, dissecting viral claims, and helping her generation think twice before hitting the share button. She is a member of the MediaSmarts teen fact-checking network, a group of young Canadians dedicated to debunking false information online. But she does not just quietly fact-check in the background. She turns her findings into engaging videos aimed directly at teens and young adults, translating complicated digital media literacy concepts into short, accessible content that actually resonates. Her work has not gone unnoticed. Chloe has just been named the inaugural recipient of MediaSmarts’ Youth Leader Award, an honour that recognizes a young person who is making a tangible difference in digital media literacy and inspiring others to engage with media more critically. For Chloe, the recognition is both humbling and thrilling, but she would probably tell you that the real reward is knowing that her videos might stop someone from believing a dangerous falsehood.
The award comes from MediaSmarts, a Canadian not-for-profit organization that has long been a leader in digital and media literacy education. For years, MediaSmarts has worked with schools, parents, and policymakers to help people understand the media they consume, from advertising to news to social media algorithms. The teen fact-checking network is one of its most innovative initiatives, because it turns young people into active participants rather than passive recipients of media literacy lessons. The idea is simple but powerful: teenagers are more likely to trust and listen to their peers than to adults telling them what to believe. By training teens to identify misinformation, research claims, and create their own content, MediaSmarts is building a generation of critical thinkers from the inside out. Chloe is exactly the kind of person this program was designed to empower. She saw the damage that misinformation can do, especially among young people who are constantly bombarded with content on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Whether it is a bogus health claim, a manipulated video, or a conspiracy theory dressed up as news, misinformation thrives where critical thinking is weak. Chloe’s work is about closing that gap, one video at a time.
What does that work actually look like? It starts with a suspicious claim. Maybe she sees a post that looks too good to be true, or a video that seems designed to provoke fear or outrage. Instead of letting it slide, Chloe moves into research mode. She tracks down the original source, checks the date, looks for credible reports from established news organizations, and asks whether the person sharing the claim has a reason to mislead. She is like a detective, but her crime scene is the comment section of a viral post. Once she has verified the facts, she scripts a short, punchy video that explains what is true, what is false, and how she knows. Her style is not dry or lecture-like. It is conversational, relatable, and sometimes even funny. She knows what it is like to be fooled by a convincingly edited video or a fake screenshot, and she uses that experience to connect with her audience. She often points out the red flags she noticed, teaching her viewers to spot them for themselves. In a world where misinformation can spread faster than a wildfire, Chloe’s videos are a cool, clear stream of common sense. She is not just debunking content; she is giving young people the tools to become their own fact-checkers.
Being the first recipient of the Youth Leader Award is significant for several reasons. It is a personal achievement for Chloe, but it is also a symbolic moment for the entire field of digital media literacy. By creating an award specifically for a young leader, MediaSmarts is sending a clear message: the next generation is not just the audience for media literacy education, but also the driver of it. Chloe’s work shows that teenagers are not all easily manipulated users of social media. Many of them are thoughtful, skeptical, and deeply aware of the dangers lurking online. They want to do something about it, and they have the creativity and digital skills to do so effectively. The award also puts a spotlight on the kind of leadership that often goes unnoticed. We celebrate athletes, musicians, and academic stars, but how often do we celebrate a teenager who spends her weekends verifying sources? Chloe’s recognition challenges our assumptions about what meaningful youth engagement looks like. It says that using your brain, asking difficult questions, and publicly saying “this is false” are acts of leadership too. For other young people watching, the award may be exactly the inspiration they need to start their own fact-checking journey. It proves that digital media literacy is not a boring school subject; it is a life skill, and one that can make a real difference.
Of course, the work is not easy. Misinformation is relentless, and the algorithms that push it are powerful. Chloe has likely seen the darker side of the internet, where false claims are shared by millions and where people who try to correct the record are sometimes attacked or dismissed. There is a heavy emotional toll that comes with constantly battling lies, especially when you are still a teenager yourself. It would be understandable if she sometimes felt tired or discouraged. But her persistence suggests something else: a deep sense of purpose. She knows that misinformation is not just an abstract problem. It affects real people in real ways. It convinces people to reject vaccines, to fall for financial scams, to believe hateful stereotypes, and to undermine trust in democracy. Every false claim that goes unchecked is an opportunity for someone to be hurt. Chloe seems to understand this on a personal level, and that understanding keeps her going. She is also realistic about the limits of her work. She cannot fact-check every post on the internet, and even she sometimes gets things wrong. What matters to her, and to the MediaSmarts network, is the broader goal: to build a culture where people pause before they share, where curiosity is more powerful than outrage, and where being a critical thinker is considered cool. That is a long-term project, and Chloe is in it for the long haul.
In the end, Chloe Kizito’s story is about more than one award or one teenager’s hobby. It is about the future of how we all engage with information. In an age when anyone can publish anything, and when artificial intelligence can create convincing images and voices that never existed, critical thinking is no longer optional. It is essential. Chloe is part of a new wave of digital citizens who understand that media literacy is not just a skill for the classroom; it is a daily practice. She is showing that you do not need to be an adult or an expert to make a difference. You just need curiosity, persistence, and the willingness to say, “I’m not sure that’s true.” Her videos may be short, but they carry a big message: young people are not passive consumers of the digital world. They are its critics, its truth-seekers, and, increasingly, its leaders. Walking through a high school hallway in Kitchener, Chloe looks like any other teenager, headphones on, phone in hand. But the difference is in what she does with that phone. While others might be scrolling mindlessly, she is checking sources, comparing claims, and crafting a response that might help someone else avoid being fooled. She is a reminder that even in the chaos of the internet, one person can make a difference. And with the first Youth Leader Award already in her hands, she is just getting started.