Does the Government take UK’s media literacy challenge seriously? Lords committee quizzes Ministers
In the final evidence session of its inquiry into media literacy, the Communications and Digital Committee takes evidence from Government Ministers for School Standards and Online Safety as it seeks to identify whether the Government is doing enough to improve media literacy standards among children and adults.
Meeting details
Background
The Committee is considering the key actions required to enhance media literacy skills across the UK population, to enable citizens to engage with the digital world safely and responsibly.
At present, only 45% of UK adults are confident they can judge whether sources of information are truthful and just 30% believe they can identify content that is created by AI. Meanwhile, young children are increasingly present online, with a third of those aged five to seven accessing social media unsupervised, while recent research has highlighted the threats of online conspiracy theories and misogyny in schools.
The evidence session gives the Committee the chance to quiz the witnesses on evidence it has received so far and how the Government is approaching the important challenge of improving media literacy.
Possible areas for discussion
Possible areas for discussion with witnesses include:
- Evaluation of the Government’s 2021 Online Media Literacy Strategy and whether it has had the impact that was hoped.
- The extent to which the new Digital Inclusion Action Plan will support future work on media literacy.
- Whether the Government has ‘outsourced’ responsibility for media literacy to Ofcom.
- How the Government will ensure that media literacy is properly embedded in the curriculum in schools.
- How the Government will ensure that other relevant stakeholders, including technology platforms and the media industry, play a role in improving UK media literacy.