The European Commission is pushing for media literacy across the bloc via courses in “critical thinking and politics” aimed at secondary school students, or what it termed “first-time voters”.
“Promoting media literacy is an important, year-round initiative, both during and outside election periods,” the EC said, suggesting that efforts to shape public perception online should not be limited to election cycles but should instead be an ongoing priority.
“Special attention and care should be dedicated in these campaigns to first-time voters, typically secondary school students,” the EC said.
“Cooperation between academic researchers and teachers could lead to the creation of special courses for schools about critical thinking and politics,” the EC added.
This initiative was part of the toolkit for Digital Services Act (DSA) co-ordinators aimed at combating fake news in the European Union.
The guidelines were part of the EC’s broader strategy to combat disinformation, particularly during elections.
The body said it planned to begin rolling out the media literacy programmes.
“Potential points of contact to reach out to on this include the national representative of the Commission’s Media Literacy Expert Group and the national representative of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services and its successor the European Board for Media Services,” the EC said.
Digital Services Co-ordinators (DSCs), government-appointed bodies responsible for ensuring compliance with the DSA, are also expected to monitor and participate in these educational campaigns.
These bodies included national telecom and media authorities such as France’s Arcom — an organisation that recently faced backlash for its controversial decision to cancel a popular right-wing show.
According to the EC, these campaigns should empower voters to critically evaluate online information, navigate the complex media landscape and understand the influence of social media on public discourse.
It was not the first time Brussels had set its sights on shaping the way young people consume information.
In August 2024, the EC also released a toolkit aimed at 15-year-olds and above with hands-on guidance for teachers and educators.
That included practical suggestions to help them explain disinformation and information manipulation to students and young people and empower them to recognise and tackle it.
A slide show was available that EU teachers could use in their classrooms.
While the latest intentions may have been to combat disinformation, the EC’s involvement in shaping educational content could be seen as a move towards political intervention in member states educational systems.
The European Parliament has supported the idea of lowering the voting age to 16 to “harmonise the voting age in the EU”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has long championed measures to combat what she called fake news.
The European Democracy Shield, the European Commission’s latest initiative to “promote democracy”, has strong ties to US left-wing billionaire George Soros, according to French MEP Virginie Joron. https://t.co/lVSJtQFr9j
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 24, 2025
