Media Literacy in the Age of Misinformation - How the Online Safety Act Falls Short

Charlie Temple, Political Commentator   Hana Syed, Political Editor

Misinformation spreads six times faster than the truth online, reaching millions over modern media channels before credible sources have the chance to catch up. False news stories are also 70% more likely to be retweeted, according to MIT, demonstrating both the lack of detection and shareability of disinformation online. This combination poses a real threat to our political system. Whilst the Online Safety Act has dominated headlines over the last week in a legislative effort to protect users online, the policy is futile without parallel investment in media literacy. In an age of digital echo chambers and algorithmic amplification, online users must be equipped to detect false news and analyse the credibility of sources – skills that cannot be legislated into existence. Equal provisions in media literacy are essential for creating a safe and more trustworthy internet, as well as safeguarding democratic institutions and promoting social equality.

The Online Safety Act (introduced in 2023 by the Conservative government) was formally enacted this week, with the aims of increasing the responsibility that large tech corporations have over the content shared on their platforms, as well as protecting children from harmful and hateful content through age verification systems. Whilst this accountability for social media platforms is long overdue, and the threat of fines will be used to enforce compliance, the government must be cautious about the risk of overreach and censorship, meaning that online users, children included, will never be completely protected by this legislation. This highlights the need for media literacy and why it is crucial that people can verify, scrutinise and avoid potentially manipulative sources.

Media literacy (by definition) is the ability to analyse, evaluate, and access a variety of different media forms – a skill that is of paramount importance in the modern political landscape. Traditional forms of media, dominated by reliable but also regulated sources, are dying out - the news of today lives in short clips and sound bites, not in newspapers or reports. Our vision of the truth is being obscured by deepfakes, AI-generated content, and fragmented narratives, whilst polarisation is at an all-time high: not an unexpected result of algorithms constantly feeding people content that reinforces their own beliefs. It is becoming increasingly difficult to receive an accurate, nuanced view through the media. Ignoring this, alongside the fact that people are unequipped to deal with the bias, means that the Online Safety Act is severely limited in its ability to make the internet a genuinely safer and trustworthy place.

The effects of this polarisation, through both algorithms and straight-up misinformation, could also pose a serious threat to democracy in the Western world. As the electorate becomes increasingly divided, common ground erodes and gives way to hostility and distrust – resulting in the rise of extremism and deterioration of trust in democratic institutions (evidence of this may be seen in the popularity among the youth of, in the UK, the new Left Party headed by Corbyn, as well as Reform UK, both of which sit relatively far from the centre of the political spectrum).

Whilst the Act means that harmful and hateful content will be moderated to some extent, users must receive the tools to identify and challenge harmful sources for themselves, considering their vast presence across the internet, free from regulation due to fears of overstepping the boundary of free speech or plain avoidance of government policies. A useful analogy is that of road safety: there is both legislation in place to keep drivers and pedestrians safe, as well as mandatory driver education. Online safety demands the same dual approach - we must fill the gaps in legislation with education.

What’s needed now is a long-term, unified commitment to media literacy – starting in schools. We must prepare children to navigate the online world much like we do the physical one, by integrating media literacy training into the national curriculum, ensuring access to all, and providing our young people with the critical thinking skills needed to identify manipulative sources and protect themselves from political isolation driven by algorithmic influence. This is crucial to protect the next generation’s future, rather than leaving our children vulnerable to polarisation or exploitation. The success of this critical action has been seen in Finland, where they have embedded media literacy into their curriculum, directly leading to them being one of the most resistant countries against fake news. If the UK is serious about creating a safer and more resilient digital environment, media literacy must not remain optional – it must be treated as a core skill. Embedding media literacy into the curriculum is not just a protective measure; it is a democratic imperative.

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