Media literacy

Media literacy is a crucial skill for all citizens, irrespective of their age, social, cultural or economic background. The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) defines it as: "skills, knowledge and understanding which allow citizens to use media effectively and safely and which are not limited to learning about tools and technologies but aim to equip citizens with the critical thinking skills required to exercise judgment, analyse complex realities and recognise the difference between opinion and fact."

Media literacy empowers citizens to make informed choices, covering both traditional and digital media. Understanding the constantly evolving media environment and critically assessing the sources of information are essential to participate in an open democratic debate. Media literacy also contributes to societal resilience against disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference by helping individuals detect and counter misleading and harmful content.

Boosting media literacy skills of all EU citizens: a policy priority

The European Union has long recognised the critical nature of media literacy. The concept is a key element of the European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP), the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan (MAAP), and the Digital Education Action Plan.

Adopted by the European Commission on 12 November 2025, the Communication on the European Democracy Shield stresses the importance of media literacy to boost societal resilience against disinformation and enhance citizens’ preparedness for crises. Because media and digital literacy are integral part of citizenship skills, they are critical for democracy. Promoting media literacy and critical thinking strengthens awareness of information integrity risks and empowers citizens of all ages across communities to navigate the information environment, access reliable information, exercise their democratic rights and engage in democratic processes.

The Communication announces a set of measures going beyond education settings. These measures, part of the Media Resilience programme, will target all age categories (youth, adults, seniors), across rural and urban areas, irrespective of people’ socioeconomic background. They will focus on new trends in media consumption, address new and emerging information integrity risks and link media literacy to preparedness. Among others, new challenges include:

• the growing role of social media platforms and online influencers as a source of news,
• new forms of coordinated inauthentic behaviour, 
• algorithmic amplification, 
• manipulative uses of generative AI
• foreign information manipulation and interference. 

Both Member States and (potential) candidate countries that face particular media literacy challenges will receive support.

The EU regulatory framework for media literacy

The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) requires Member States to promote and take measures to develop media literacy skills and to report on their efforts every three years. In line with the 2018 revision of the AVMSD, the Commission has issued guidelines for Member States when reporting on measures to promote and develop media literacy skills. The guidelines also aim to help Member States share best practices on media literacy. The first set of national reports are available for the period 2020-2022. The following reporting cycle will cover the period 2023-2025.

The revised AVMSD also requires video-sharing platforms to provide effective media literacy measures and tools. This is a key requirement due to the role of video-sharing platforms play in giving citizens access to audiovisual content. Platforms are also required to raise users’ awareness of these measures and tools.

The Digital Services Act (DSA), the Code of Conduct on Disinformation, also includes provisions on media literacy. Signatories of the Code include a broad range of stakeholders such as online platforms, search engines, fact-checking and civil society organisations. Under Commitment 17 of the Code, platforms shall design media literacy tools that aim to empower users by providing context for the content visible on their services. Signatories also pledge to develop, promote, and support activities that improve media literacy and critical thinking among the general public. The signatories regularly report on their actions to fulfil this commitment. These reports, which detail their implementation efforts, are available in the Transparency Centre dedicated to the Code.

Working with stakeholders

Media Literacy Expert Group

The Commission brings together the representatives of EU Member States in a Media literacy expert group (MLEG). The group advises the Commission on good practices in the field of media literacy, and on possible synergies between EU and national actions on media literacy.

To further increase coordination and strengthen the links between media literacy actors, the European Democracy Shield foresees strengthening the MLEG, including by offering new cooperation tools and expanding its mandate to cover aspects of societal resilience and preparedness.

To complement the efforts of MLEG, the Commission will also establish a new independent expert network for media literacy, bringing together independent experts from various fields (e.g. preparedness, FIMI and disinformation, data analysis, information integrity risks, behavioural sciences, etc.). These experts will provide independent inputs and insights to meet new challenges.

European Board for Media Services and media literacy

The Media Board has a dedicated workstream on media literacy within its Working Group 5 on the integrity of the information space. The aim of the workstream is to exchange best practices related to the tools and measures deployed by national media regulatory authorities to promote or develop media literacy. It places a particular emphasis on the implementation of the AVMSD. In 2024, it developed the Media Literacy Handbook showcasing best practices from national media regulatory authorities across the EU.

European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO)

The European Commission supports the work of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), which brings together a multidisciplinary community, including fact-checkers, media literacy experts and researchers to join forces in the fight against disinformation.

EDMO contributes to identifying best practices in the field of media literacy, promoting knowledge exchange among practitioners, policy makers, and other experts across Europe. To raise standards throughout the sector, EDMO adopted in October 2024 Guidelines for Effective Media Literacy Initiatives. These guidelines have been endorsed by several organisations across Europe and will be promoted further through the development of a public repository of examples illustrating each best practice.

EDMO’s activities also include delivering media literacy campaigns to increase citizens’ awareness and societal resilience. For example, EDMO conducted the online Be Election Smart campaign in all EU languages to increase awareness of disinformation risks during the 2024 European elections.

EDMO also relies on an EU-wide network of national and regional hubs, which develop targeted media literacy campaigns to raise awareness and build societal resilience on the ground.

EU funding of media literacy projects

The Commission supports media literacy through multiple funding initiatives. The Creative Europe programme, in particular, has a dedicated annual call for proposals supporting cross-border media literacy projects with EU grants. The selected projects seek to develop innovative approaches to media literacy by:

• creating or scaling up cross-border collaborations to deliver projects that implement best practices across national, cultural and linguistic borders,
• developing and deploying media literacy tools and initiatives, taking into account the needs of specific target groups, including but not limited to groups with limited media literacy skills or access,
• assisting media literacy professionals in adapting their practices to rapidly evolving media formats and changing media consumption patterns.

Projects having received EU support in the past years include a peer learning network on digital media for seniors, a cross-country coalition against gender disinformation and the development of tools to raise awareness about the role of AI algorithms in generating and spreading disinformation.

Besides Creative Europe, other types of grants are available for media literacy projects. For instance, Erasmus+ grants for projects focusing on youth and grants for pilot projects and preparatory actions initiated by the European Parliament.

More information on funding opportunities for media literacy.