Exploring the Impact of Digital Literacy on Media Consumer Empowerment in the Age of Misinformation

Abstract

In an era where misinformation proliferates rapidly across digital platforms, the need for strong digital literacy skills has become increasingly critical. This study explores the impact of digital literacy on media consumer empowerment and the ability to resist misinformation. The focus of the problem statement is on the increasing range of misinformation making it harder for individuals to be able to inform or maintain informed decision making. Our study aimed to investigate how digital literacy empowers people to develop and apply critical judgements over media content, enabling them to be able to detect misinformation and personally protect their consumption of information. The study found that those who use the internet well were better able to weigh information, detect misinformation and make decisions guided by sound reasoning using a mixed-methods approach. The results also show that some demographic differences in digital literacy are consistent, with younger, more educated, and urban residents reporting a higher degree of media empowerment. All these ensure that structural reasons for especially prevalent misinformation in this particular media format can be better understood, and underlines the pivotal role of broader campaigns using digital literacy at all levels to fight fake news.