Two bills introduced by lawmakers on Jan. 11 will attempt to help students differentiate between credible news stories and fake news.

Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) proposed SB135, which calls for the state’s board of education to add “media literacy,” defined as the ability to “encode and decode” digital media, to its social sciences curriculum for grades 1-12.

The law cites a Stanford University Study indicating 82 percent of middle school students struggled to differentiate between advertisements and news stories. It also mentions the continued expansion of digital media and the ubiquity of digital media usage among young adults as factors that make the issue of fake news worth addressing.

During the 2016 presidential election, the 20 top-performing fake election news stories from hoax websites and “hyperpartisan blogs” generated over 8.7 million shares, reactions and comments on social media, according to the law. The 20 top performing news stories about the election by major news sites generated a little more than 7.3 million shares, reactions and comments on Facebook.

“The rise of fake and misleading news is deeply concerning,” Dodd said in a statement. “Even more concerning is the lack of education provided to ensure people can distinguish what is fact and what’s not. Through new technology, news has never been more readily available. However, the quality of that information varies widely. By giving students the proper tools to analyze the media they consume, we can empower them to make informed decisions.”

The law would also require media literacy training opportunities for teachers.

Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) introduced AB155, which calls fake news “a direct threat to our democracy.” It would ask the state’s Instructional Quality Commission to incorporate “civic online reasoning,” defined as the ability to judge the credibility and quality of online content, into its curriculum for grades 7-12.

“Recently, we have seen the corrupting effects of a deliberate propaganda campaign driven by fake news,” Gomez said in a statement. “When fake news is repeated, it becomes difficult for the public to discern what’s real. These attempts to mislead readers pose a direct threat to our democracy.”

Gomez added that his bill would help the state’s students tell the difference “between news intended to inform and fake news intended to mislead.”

The law states that information is published online rapidly nowadays with little or no oversight, whereas publishers, editors and other gatekeepers used to verify content before it was published. This change in the media landscape has made it easier for fake news to reach large audiences, the text says.

The law also mentions native advertising, a practice in which an organization pays a media outlet to publish an advertisement in a way that makes it look like editorial content, as deceiving to young people.

Gomez and Dodd did not immediately respond to requests for comment about how enforcement of their laws, if either is passed, by teachers may vary based on political climates in different areas throughout the state.

Social media sites themselves have been called into question for allowing fake news stories to proliferate in reach. A story claiming then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly had been fired from the network because she was secretly a Hillary Clinton supporter, for example, made it onto Facebook’s list of trending stories.

“The problems here are complex, both technically and philosophically,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and co-founder, in a November Facebook post. “We believe in giving people a voice, which means erring on the side of letting people share what they want whenever possible. We need to be careful not to discourage sharing of opinions or to mistakenly restrict accurate content. We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties.”

The definition of fake news, including which sites and organizations disseminate fake news, has been a point of contention. A website designed to look like ABC News published a story last year claiming that President Barack Obama issued an executive order banning the pledge of allegiance from schools. It quickly went viral, but was easily debunked by fact-checkers.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has taken to Twitter multiple times to call CNN fake news, most recently over a CNN report about an intelligence briefing Trump had received, a story with source material that has not been refuted.

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, 5th District, said he thinks the legislation can help address the issues posed by fake news, especially among younger audiences.

“Hopefully we can get beyond it, or help people get beyond it,” Koretz said.

He said he hasn’t personally felt the effects of fake news. None of his constituents have called him with questions or concerns based on fake information they saw online, he said, but the issue should be addressed nonetheless.

“I think it will take a certain level of sophistication to do it,” Koretz said.

Both laws are scheduled to be heard in committee as early as Feb. 11.