Rethinking Media Literacy 2025

Executive summary Today’s digital era has been shaped by the rapid evolution of social media platforms and, increasingly, the proliferation of generative AI. As public confidence in information – whether from legacy media, public institutions or social media – has plummeted, the ability to critically engage with information and understand the technologies and mechanisms underpinning its distribution is essential for preserving democratic civic discourse, public safety and meaningful freedom of expression. Media and information literacy is the interrelatedness of competencies regarding information; it is central to the safeguarding of information integrity as it equips individuals with the competencies to access, analyse, evaluate and produce information across various formats and platforms. It should support not only personal empowerment but also broader goals, such as democratic resilience, public trust, civic participation and social cohesion. As the information landscape grows more complex, MIL becomes essential for enabling people to distinguish between credible information on the one hand and falsehoods and manipulation on the other – especially as AI-generated media blurs the lines between fact and fiction. However, while regulatory or platform-based approaches often struggle to keep pace with the emergence of new harms, evasive tactics and cultural norms, an overly narrow understanding of MIL risks obscuring the bigger picture and placing undue responsibility on individuals. The spaces that consumers inhabit must also allow credible information to be easily sourced and shared, and they must incentivize safety at the platform level. Increasingly, digital public commons are struggling to meet this need. Both visibility and engagement are often skewed, whether towards orchestrated deception, low-trust sources or other forms of divisive and manipulative content. As such, the challenge of embedding stronger MIL is combined with a more systemic need: to build healthy incentives into the information ecosystem at all levels. This report aims to present a more holistic model, identifying all possible entry points for intervention and putting greater focus on the supply-and- demand dynamics of information spaces. This new model, designed to aid the effectiveness and expansion of information integrity via a comprehensive approach to MIL, combines two conceptual frameworks: –The disinformation life cycle: Five stages in the digital information life cycle that offer opportunities for intervention – pre-creation, creation, distribution, consumption and post-consumption –The socio-ecological model: Five levels where interventions have an impact – at the individual, interpersonal, community, institutional and policy levels By aligning these two approaches, the framework allows practitioners, policy-makers, the private sector and educators to identify gaps in the current MIL landscape as well as strategic points of potential engagement, with a view to enabling scaled impact over time. Drawing from global case studies, this report demonstrates that MIL can be successfully embedded across diverse contexts, from youth organizations and media institutions to local governments and digital platforms. Ultimately, strengthening information integrity requires coordinated action across education systems, civil society, governments and the private sector. The report offers a strategic foundation for that commitment, advancing a vision in which digital safety becomes a shared responsibility and a universal competency. Rethinking Media Literacy: A New Ecosystem Model for Information Integrity 4