This paper discusses information protection of adolescents from the negative impact of social networks. The participation of adolescents in the protest movement highlights the role of media education as an actor in designing the system of preparing students for the threats and challenges of the Internet. Students absorb the information that they receive through the media, without assessing it for accuracy, correctness, reliability, etc. Therefore, media education at school should teach students to extract meanings from the symbolic representation of the surrounding world and the processes taking place in it. This will be possible if they understand what laws govern information and how and for what purpose information is distributed.

Media education in Russia today is influenced by a variety of economic, social, technological, cultural processes. To assess their nature and scale of influence is not an easy task. It is even a harder task to try and develop a modern vision of media education strategy in the context of information security, which implies reflection on the nature of journalism in society and its place in actively developing new media. To understand online information security is impossible without taking into account changes in social practices.