In the early days of the pandemic expose the flaws in the government’s misinformation laws, say legal experts

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The online landscape can be a dangerous place for young people, and some say education about its harms is falling short. A team of researchers in Canberra is helping high school students learn to navigate the digital world safely, but they are calling for a more comprehensive strategy in the national curriculum. Especially now with the federal government’s plan to bans social media for children under 16 looming, they say the window is open to improve.

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00:00Avoiding disinformation online isn't easy, but it's exactly what these Year 11 students

00:09are being taught to do.

00:10It has been an eye-opener, especially for Aaron Grant.

00:15He deleted Instagram after learning how littered the app was with dangerous content.

00:20Getting on reels every day was just like a natural instinct for me and it was just not

00:25healthy for me, so yeah.

00:28You were addicted?

00:30A team of researchers from the University of Canberra designed the four-class subject

00:36to be taught by teacher librarians.

00:38So if they come across a piece of information, should they trust it or not, basically?

00:44Students learn about trusted sources, the importance of fact-checking and how to spot

00:49emotional manipulation using real-life examples.

00:53I'm reading things and going, well what's your intent behind that?

00:56Why are you publishing that?

00:57Are you just putting it out there for me to read and to find interesting, or is there

01:00something that you want out of my reaction to it?

01:02I think that this kind of information, even though I'm a fairly aware person, has still

01:06given me extra understanding and knowledge.

01:08A 2023 study of more than 1,000 8- to 16-year-olds found more than a quarter were getting their

01:15news from social media, but only one in four had received a lesson in the previous year

01:22helping them to work out if news stories were true or could be trusted.

01:28Media literacy isn't part of the national curriculum.

01:32It's up to state and territory governments to fund additional programs in schools or

01:37not.

01:38The experts want that piecemeal approach to change.

01:41There needs to be some sort of realisation that this is really important.

01:46The Prime Minister announced last week plans to ban social media for children under 16.

01:51When that happens, or if it works, remains to be seen.

01:55But it could offer the perfect opportunity to introduce comprehensive media literacy

02:00education across Australian schools to prepare young people before their 16th birthday.

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