This study examines students' perceptions and ability to think critically within the framework of social studies education. With increasing concern for the survival of democracy and the rapidly changing media landscape, it is increasingly important to understand and promote students' critical thinking skills. The study aims to contribute to an increased understanding of students' critical thinking in social studies teaching and points to the need to develop more differentiated and challenging teaching methods to promote students' ability to think critically in different contexts. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating critical thinking discussions into a broader context of media and information literacy to equip students to navigate the media landscape and contribute to healthy democratic societal development.   Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in a survey, the student's knowledge of critical thinking in different contexts and their ability to apply it in practice were explored. The results showed that students generally had a basic understanding of critical thinking, but had difficulty reaching more advanced levels of critical thinking. When it comes to being able to explain critical thinking in theory, a majority have a basic understanding, mainly related to source criticism. The result of applying it in practice was that a majority could reach a more multifaceted understanding of critical thinking. Specifically, it emerged that the students found it more difficult to apply critical thinking in complex situations and that their ability was to some extent situational depending on the subject. In addition, the results showed challenges students articulated related to navigating through the large flow of information and sifting relevant information from irrelevant or misleading sources.