User perspectives on digital literacy as a response to misinformation
Stephanie Diepeveen and
Melanie Pinet
Development Policy Review, 2022, vol. 40, issue S2
Abstract:
Motivation In a polarizing world, the spread of “fake news” and mis/disinformation is a cause of concern for young people's wellbeing, as they are at the forefront of the use and consumption of digital media. The article focuses on how young people view and respond to misinformation online, and the role of digital literacy interventions to mitigate this challenge. Purpose The analysis aims to provide some initial insights on how young people view and respond to misinformation online, based on open‐ended online consultations, and consider what their ideas and experiences imply for whether and how digital literacy interventions can help mitigate the impact of “fake news” and mis/disinformation on young people's wellbeing. Approach and methods The empirical analysis is based on two online consultations, held in the early months of the Covid‐19 pandemic, that explore multiple views of young people on misinformation. The consultations were analysed for patterns and variation in how young people define the problem of misinformation, and consider digital literacy as a solution, for both men and women, and in different geographies globally. Findings Through the consultations, participants suggest a contextualized view of misinformation, both in terms of how it becomes problematic and mitigation strategies. Young people experienced misinformation in intersection with other issues in the digital public sphere, including cybersecurity and unequal access. Young people also reinforced a broad view of digital literacy that includes data literacy and digital citizenship. Policy implications Consultation participants challenge policy‐makers and practitioners to look more deeply at the factors contributing to misinformation, to expand their vision of young people's agency, and to incorporate these insights into designing digital literacy interventions that mitigate the harms of misinformation online, and enable young people to address harmful content online.
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)
Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12671
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:devpol:v:40:y:2022:i:s2:n:e12671
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0950-6764
Access Statistics for this article
Development Policy Review is currently edited by David Booth
More articles in Development Policy Review from Overseas Development Institute Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().