Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's media literacy strategy in countering (a) mis- and (b) dis-information.

Improving media literacy is one of the government’s key tools in tackling the harm caused by misinformation and disinformation. To demonstrate how the Government is delivering against the objectives of the Online Media Literacy Strategy, we are publishing annual Action Plans each financial year until the end of 2024/25. Through media literacy grant schemes, we have provided almost £2 million in funding to a range of educational projects.

These projects seek to build the online safety and critical thinking skills of internet users, empowering them to respond effectively to the threats posed by mis- and disinformation, along with other online harms. All funded projects are evaluated robustly, including by independent experts, and findings will be published on gov.uk upon completion. This will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of future media literacy initiatives and inform government policy moving forward.

As part of this work, we established the Media Literacy Taskforce to bring together organisations in the media literacy landscape to amplify, increase and improve media literacy provision across underserved parts of the UK. Taskforce members advised the government on which projects should be awarded funding, and then helped grant recipients to maximise the impact of their projects.

Alongside the Strategy, the Online Safety Act updates Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty to require it to take tangible steps to prioritise the public's awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation online.