Media Literacy (Communications and Digital Committee Report)

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Grand Committee

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this debate. In doing so, I declare my interests as set out in the register: as an adviser on emerging technologies, not least AI, to Endava plc, the Crown Estate, Submer Ltd and Simmons and Simmons LLP. It is a pleasure and an honour to take part in this debate, as it was to be a member of your Lordships’ Communications and Digital Committee, so ably led by the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, who opened this debate with erudition and eloquence, setting out all the key recommendations of our report’s findings. In many ways our report could be summarised in one phrase: critical thinking. It is important to so many of the issues currently facing all of us, not least young people, and is vital to our continued flourishing and humanity.

There are at least three reasons why media literacy matters today. The first is democracy. Trust is in crisis and collapsing under a barrage of misinformation and disinformation. We highlighted that in the Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee report in 2020, and it has gone only one way since then. The second reason is economic. We have an epidemic of fraud, mostly perpetrated on platforms, yet, in the Government’s recent fraud strategy, platforms are not included in APP reimbursement; I ask the Minister why. The third reason is our very being in society. When AI is all around us, media literacy must flow like a golden thread through us all and every interaction that we have. Those are three reasons.

Three groups are to be congratulated and are set out in our report, including librarians and community groups for everything they do, often in spite of, rather than alongside support. Can the Minister outline what support librarians and community groups are going to get through this new plan? Similarly, Becky Francis has already been rightly highlighted for her curriculum review and all of the good points that were made in that in terms of media literacy. To that end, when will the statutory provisions be brought forward that can enable the media literacy provisions set out in Becky Francis’s review? When we talk about Ofcom, all too often, in so many areas, more and more gets put on Ofcom, with media literacy the latest to be put at its door. Will the Minister consider speaking to Ofcom about looking at its definition of media literacy, which currently does not include the phrase “critical thinking”? It is critical that that changes.

I also ask the Minister what is happening with the Government’s media literacy working group set up last May. How often has it met? What impact and output has it had? Then there is the Digital Inclusion Action Committee. What action has it taken, how many meetings has it had and what is its impact? We have already heard mention of the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund. It is hurtling towards the end of the current funding period at the end of this month. What is happening with funding at the end of this period and what will be done to assess and analyse the projects that have been funded?

If we want safer lives, secure lives and successful lives, we need media literacy—ML will enable us to live with the LLM. Our report talks about the need for government intervention. Their plan, published today, talks about the need for effective regulation. It is quite right; I agree. I would add that we need not only effective regulation, but right-sized regulation. It is good for citizen, consumer, creator, innovator and investor. Right-sized regulation is good for all of us, as all history, not least recent history, shows us. When will we see the statutory requirements to enable the Francis review provisions on media literacy to come forward? When will we see further legislation on online harms and how we already need to address the shortcomings of the Online Safety Act? It was so long in the making but is already deficient with so many of the current technology challenges.

When will we see more Government action on media literacy? When will we see an AI Bill brought forward? There was one line in the last King’s Speech about an AI Bill being brought forward in 2024, yet it did not appear. A consultation was due last autumn. We are in the spring of 2026 but, still, there is no consultation. Now, we hear that there is unlikely to be any AI-specific legislation in the upcoming King’s Speech, likely this May. In conclusion, we need legislation; we need it now for all our futures. Ultimately, it is our data and our decisions. We challenge and we choose—if we get this right together—our inclusive digital futures.