About - Shout Out UK

The Problem

Working with young people is crucial as official statistics published by the Home Office in November 2021 indicated that in the last year, Prevent referrals of those aged 15 to 20 accounted for the largest proportion of referrals.

Furthermore, out of the 688 Channel cases recorded during the same period, the most common were cases referred due to concerns regarding extreme right-wing radicalisation (46%), followed by those with a mixed, unstable, or unclear ideology (30%).

The internet provides a relatively anonymous way for extremist recruiters to find potential recruits and expand their networks, and with 99% of 12–15 year-olds spending an average of twenty and a half hours a week on the internet, malevolent actors are continually developing misinformation and propagandistic messages to exploit the unguarded internet sphere and lead the youth into extremism.

In 2021 alone, The Office for National Statistics reported that 99% of adults in the UK aged 16 to 44 were recent internet users, compared with 54% of adults aged 75 years and over. Furthermore, research by Ofcom from September 2020 showed that ‘people aged 25-34 were the most likely to come across misinformation (36%), compared to those aged over 65 who were the least likely (21%). This focus is based on the idea of reaching our intended audience where they already spend a large portion of their time. Indeed, the internet is an integral part of everyday life for the majority of citizens, with nearly nine in ten UK adults and 99% of 12 to 15 year olds reporting being online on a daily basis.

Our Mission

Until every eligible voter is given the tools to understand how their government works and how to identify disinformation for themselves, extreme views and conspiracy theories will continue to grow, and democracy will suffer. Founded in 2015 to protect and amplify democracy, Shout Out UK (SOUK) is a social enterprise on a mission to ensure that political and media literacy education is available to everyone, regardless of their socio-economic background, ethnicity, or gender and safeguard democracy and our rights for generations to come. We have worked with young people across the UK, ensuring they develop critical thinking skills, analytical abilities and confidence, empowering them to be democratically engaged and informed citizens.

Our Awards

Most Impactful Company to Work For 2023, Awarded by Impact Fifty
Democracy Pioneer 2020, Awarded by Nesta
Youth-Led Award 2018, Awarded by The British Youth Council.
Harrow Business Den Winner of 2016, Awarded by Harrow Council.

Political Literacy & Media Literacy Experts

Founded by Matteo Bergamini in 2015, Shout Out UK (SOUK) is a multi-award winning creative social enterprise on a mission to defend and amplify democracy by ensuring all citizens understand how their government functions through political literacy, are inoculated from disinformation and misinformation through media literacy and are given a chance to have a say in how their country is run through our own youth voice platform and various programmes.

SOUK has run some of the largest city-wide voter registration and voter awareness campaigns in the democratic world. Furthermore, its education programmes on Media & Political Literacy have been utilised to combat disinformation and extremism nationwide through Prevent, as well as translated into various languages and utilised in multiple countries.

SOUK has worked with a number of clients, including, but not limited to; the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Greater London Authority, the US Embassy in London, the US State Department and NATO.

Advocacy

Launched in January 2021, SOUK is currently providing the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) on Political Literacy, a coalition of MPs and Lords with the aim of bringing political and media literacy education to every single young person in Britain, regardless of socio-economic status.