Rethinking Media Literacy 2025

The digital environment has democratized access to information, offering new avenues for the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression. Today, however, digital platforms and online information threaten the very rights that internet connectivity once promised to fulfil. A few key trends that point towards the heightened need for enhanced MIL include: Increased reliance on digital platforms to access public interest information A recent UNESCO/IPSOS survey revealed that in 16 countries that were scheduled to have elections in 2024, social media was fund to be the primary source of information. Some 87% of citizens in these countries believed that online disinformation was already having a major impact on the political life of their country, and they feared its influence on election results.8 The rapid rise of digital platforms has created spaces where vast amounts of information are shared, which has significant social, political and economic impacts. However, these platforms can enable and accelerate the spread of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and other harmful content, making it crucial to ensure they operate transparently and in alignment with human rights principles. Reduced trust in traditional journalism and the growing influence of content creators as information channels Studies show that people (especially youth) are increasingly turning to short-form video for news consumption. This type of format is particularly favoured by influencers and young news creators, who are increasingly becoming primary “news” creators and shaping public discourse on critical topics including elections, conflicts and environmental crises.9 Video (and livestream, which is used by these same creators) creates an even greater moderation challenge for platforms that already struggle to apply their policies to harmful content. In another concerning trend, a UNESCO-supported study showed that content creators (e.g. influencers) on digital platforms do not rely on traditional journalism to produce content, with mainstream news media ranked only as the third most common source used by these actors (36.9%). Alarmingly, 42% of content creators rely on likes and views as the primary indicator of credibility, indicating a shift away from traditional journalistic standards, where fact-checking and credibility are based on evidence and transparent citations.10Such trends make a compelling case for increased MIL programmes that help users and individuals identify reliable news sources, understand the risks posed by artificial AI and mis- and disinformation on digital platforms and engage with content in an inclusive and ethical way. Further, MIL programmes must be designed to reinforce human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and access to information, empowering users to employ digital technologies and social media platforms in an open, safe and secure way. Rapid developments in AI, including GenAI Recent developments in AI are reshaping human society, influencing trust, media consumption and the broader information landscape. AI has rapidly evolved from basic supervised and unsupervised learning models into highly complex deep learning (DL) algorithms, capable of handling unstructured data and performing advanced tasks such as image and text analysis, voice synthesis and predictive modelling. While these advancements offer significant benefits – such as improving healthcare diagnostics, streamlining content creation and enhancing personalized learning experiences – they also introduce critical risks, particularly concerning misinformation, bias and the erosion of trust in digital content. For example, deepfake technology – enabled by GenAI – has been used to fabricate realistic images and videos of public figures.11 The increasing accessibility of such tools means that even non- experts can generate misleading content, further complicating efforts to embed information integrity. The rise of GenAI models – such as such as those developed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta among others – has added new layers of complexity to the challenge of MIL. These tools can produce convincing but misleading content, often blurring the line between what is human- or AI-generated. Research indicates that individuals already struggle with assessing the reliability of traditional search results, often assuming that higher-ranked pages are more credible. With AI-generated summaries becoming the default for many users,12 there is a growing risk that misinformation, biases in training data or subtle manipulations could dictate public perception without users critically evaluating multiple sources. Governments worldwide have responded differently to the rise of GenAI. Some countries, such as Italy, initially banned ChatGPT over privacy concerns before implementing regulatory measures,13 while the European Union established the AI Act to provide more comprehensive regulatory oversight of AI systems, including requirements 1.2 How MIL can provide a response to the challenges of the digital age Rethinking Media Literacy: A New Ecosystem Model for Information Integrity 8