Most Australians are worried about the spread of misinformation on the internet, but do not know how to protect themselves from it.
A new national survey on adult media literacy found there was a need for people to be taught how to identify misinformation.
Lead author Associate Professor Tanya Notley from the Western Sydney University said despite almost all Australians using social media and digital platforms in their everyday lives, progress had been slow when it came to adult media literacy.
“Most adult Australians are not confident about their ability to identify false and misleading information online, create a video and post it online, edit a digital photo, change social media privacy settings, or seek help from relevant authorities if they are being harassed online,” Associate Professor Notley said.
“We found that there is overwhelming demand among Australians for adult and school-based media literacy education. However, too many Australians have not received any form of media literacy education or they don’t have access to support when they need it.”
Associate Professor Notley said the survey found while most Australians (68 percent) had heard of the term media literacy, only one third (33 percent) have some understanding of what it meant.
She said in the survey, a collaboration between Western Sydney University, University of Canberra and QUT, many adults reported encountering misinformation frequently and there was strong support for action, with four in five (80 percent) of adults wanting the spread of misinformation addressed, a six percent increase since 2021.
“Almost everyone (94 percent) who wants misinformation to be addressed agrees that people need to be taught how to identify misinformation.”
The survey also found two thirds of adult Australians (65 percent) used three or more different media formats on a daily basis and people who regularly consumed a diverse range of media had far more confidence in their media abilities.
Associate Professor Notley said four in 10 adult Australians had experimented with text-focused generative AI services.
“However, there is a strong overall negative sentiment towards this technology, with the majority of adults wanting regulation to mitigate potential harms.”
