On 7 July, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on a new strategy for media literacy and digital learning, with 447 votes in favour. The resolution signals strong political support for strengthening citizens’ resilience in an increasingly complex digital information environment and highlights the importance of equipping citizens with the skills needed to navigate online content critically and safely.
The Parliament thereby recognises media literacy as a key component of democratic participation and informed decision-making. It emphasises the need to empower citizens of all ages to benefit from digital technologies while understanding the risks associated with online platforms, disinformation, foreign information manipulation, and rapidly evolving digital tools, including artificial intelligence.
The European Digital Media Observatory welcomes the fact that the resolution explicitly acknowledges the work of the EDMO network and its role, alongside the Media Literacy Expert Group, in bringing together policymakers, researchers and practitioners, fostering cooperation, sharing best practices and raising awareness on media literacy issues. Among its key priorities, the resolution calls for:
- Media literacy and digital learning to become a lifelong learning priority, both within formal education and beyond schools, reaching citizens of all ages and backgrounds.
- Stronger digital and AI literacy, enabling people to better understand algorithms, identify AI-generated content, recognise manipulative online practices and navigate digital environments safely.
- Closer cooperation among governments, educators, researchers, civil society organisations, media organisations and online platforms to strengthen resilience against disinformation and other online harms.
The resolution also highlights the importance of supporting teachers, librarians, community organisations and other trusted actors that play a vital role in promoting media literacy and digital skills at local level. It further stresses the need for sustained investment, effective coordination across Member States and evidence-based approaches to evaluating media literacy initiatives.
The adoption of this resolution marks an important step towards a more coherent European approach to media literacy and digital learning. As discussions move from policy objectives to implementation, EDMO remains committed to contributing its expertise, research and multi-stakeholder network to support these efforts and help strengthen media literacy and digital resilience across Europe.
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