Ofcom – with the support and engagement of the academics, platforms and interest groups represented on our external working group – has created a suite of Best Practice Design Principles for Media Literacy (PDF, 1.2 MB). These principles are to help platforms to:
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- become accountable for making media literacy a priority and increase transparency surrounding the development and impact of media literacy interventions;
- ensure the development of timely media literacy interventions that put user needs at the centre of the design process; and
- monitor and evaluate media literacy interventions on an ongoing basis.
From November 2023 to January 2024 we sought views on how to improve these principles and have been considering the range of feedback received to iterate and improve the proposed Best-Practice Principles for Media Literacy by Design.
Together with Ofcom’s Behavioural Insight Hub and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), we also conducted research (PDF, 1.4 MB) to build evidence on on-platform interventions. We explored prompts to encourage people to make an active choice about the content they see.
Online services pledge to prioritise media literacy
Please see here our October 2024 announcement on services pledging to adopt Ofcom’s best practice principles for promoting media literacy on their platforms.
As part of the pledge, the four services submitted examples of how they are already implementing media literacy by design on their services, and areas they would like to focus on in the future (linked below). The examples submitted provide a benchmark against which future progress can be kept under review, and represents a public commitment to ongoing, accountable action.