Civic and political activity and attitude towards the media in the belief system of Moscow students

The article presents the results of a sociological survey (questionnaire - 47 questions, N = 1 360 respondents) of Moscow students of three universities (Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Lomonosov Moscow State University, National Research University Higher School of Economics) according to a representative quota sample. The focus is on issues of civic and political activity, including the motivation for participating in elections, trust in socio-political institutions and authorities in general, as well as attitude towards the media, the main sources of information and their credibility, behavior in the field of fake news and attitude towards censorship are described. As a result, several key points have been revealed: students' competence in recognizing fake news, which they overestimate and which should be developed with the help of special educational forms; control over TikTok as a source of information, which is likely to be a bearer of liberal values and is trusted by students with a “personality at risk”. Communication and open dialogue with young people are becoming the main tools in the implementation of youth policy.