Committees

Do we have the digital literacy to spot fake news?

11 February 2020

The Committee will explore whether citizens have the knowledge and skills to spot fake news and critically assess political claims made online. The Committee will take evidence across two sessions from organisations engaged with supporting news literacy and high quality journalism as well as associations representing professions delivering digital literacy education.

Witnesses

Tuesday 11 February in Committee Room 2, Palace of Westminster

At approximately 10.15am

  • Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director, Reuters Institute
  • Angie Pitt, Director of NewsWise
  • Dr Elinor Carmi, University of Liverpool
  • Helen Milner OBE, Group Chief Executive, Good Things Foundation

At approximately 11.30am

  • Liz Moorse, CEO, Association for Citizenship Teaching
  • Jonathan Baggaley, CEO, PSHE Association
  • Dr Bill Mitchell, Director of Policy, BCS The Chartered Institute for IT

Possible areas for discussion

In the first session the Committee will focus on how digitally literate the UK public are and how levels of digital literacy differ between generations and socioeconomic groups, what level of digital literacy is required to ensure the public can engage online and which organisations should lead in ensuring the public are active digital citizens – is it primarily the responsibility of the state or technology companies?

The second session will look at the role of schools in providing digital literacy education and whether we have right balance between teaching digital skills and developing students ability to critically asses information they receive online. The Committee will also ask about the new Ofsted framework and whether this will help improve standards of digital education in schools.

Further information