Media and Information Literacy

Media and information literacy is the ability to find, understand, judge and responsibly share information received through different media. In a digital information environment, media and information literacy combines critical understanding of media messages with the skills needed to access, evaluate and create information online. It goes beyond operating devices to asking whether information is credible, how it was produced and what purpose it serves.

Core abilities

A media- and information-literate person participates actively and critically rather than accepting every message at face value.

• Access and discovery involve identifying an information need and locating relevant material through appropriate sources and search tools.
• Critical evaluation involves examining authorship, evidence, publication date, context and purpose, and checking important claims against independent, credible sources.
• Understanding media involves distinguishing factual reporting from opinion, advertising and persuasive messaging, while recognising that selection and presentation can influence interpretation.
• Responsible creation and sharing involve communicating accurately, acknowledging sources, respecting copyright and protecting personal information.

What changes in a digital environment

Digital networks allow users to become both consumers and producers of information. Their speed and reach make verification before sharing especially important.

• A message's popularity, professional appearance or repeated circulation does not establish its accuracy.
• Images, audio and video can be edited, taken out of context or synthetically generated, so their apparent realism is not sufficient evidence of authenticity.
• Recommendation systems influence what users encounter, making it important to seek relevant perspectives beyond a personalised feed.
• Information literacy also requires recognising gaps in one's knowledge and withholding judgement when reliable evidence is unavailable.

Why it matters for education and society

Digital literacy and media and information literacy overlap, but they are not identical: using an application competently does not necessarily mean being able to evaluate its content.

• These abilities support informed decisions about health, education, employment and public affairs.
• They strengthen informed citizenship by helping people examine public claims and participate in discussion on the basis of evidence.
• Education should integrate source comparison, fact-checking exercises, ethical content creation and privacy awareness rather than treating literacy as device training alone.
• Effective learning requires both access to technology and opportunities to practise critical judgement, including through accessible materials and local languages.