Covid-19 is the first pandemic in history where technology and social media played a critical role and is widely being used to keep people safe and informed.
Sri Lanka has over 6.4 million social media users, and the rapid exchange of information and perspectives about the virus was unfolding an ‘infodemic’ - an overabundance of information.
False information was spreading faster than ever before – making it difficult for the public to access trusted and timely information while also raising questions about the quality, impact and credibility of the information we consume.
Attempts to disseminate false information pose multiple challenges, especially during a crisis. Mis-and disinformation undermines the public health response, leads to poor observance of public health measures, puts people’s lives at risk and amplifies hate speech and stigmatisation which in turn hinders a countries’ ability to control the pandemic. Fighting the ‘infodemic’ requires being literate and critical about the information that surrounds us.
Learning platform for youth
To equip young people with the ability to navigate through the current media landscape, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka launched an initiative titled ‘Engage to Disengage’ - an awareness building and training program on ‘Critical Media and Information Literacy’ for young people in Sri Lanka. The program developed as part of the HackaDev Academy of Learning and Skills is a partnership with the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding.
Since its inception in August 2020, Engage to Disengage has trained over 350 young people representing all 25 Districts in Sri Lanka while engaging young journalists, teachers, university and school students and civil society actors.
“Engage to Disengage empowers Sri Lankan youth to act with greater civic responsibility when interacting on social media platforms to promote global citizenship and peace. This is an opportune intervention at a time when young people are increasingly exposed to hate speech, fake news and violent extremism online. Engaging young people from across Sri Lanka through a virtual platform and providing them with this learning opportunity has been a great experience,” said Ralani Weerasinghe, Learning and Skills Program Associate at UNDP in Sri Lanka who is part of the core team.For the team at the UNDP, conducting these programmes have not been an easy journey, as Oshan Gunathilake, National UN Youth Volunteer in Learning and Innovations, reiterates, “In the wake of Covid-19, our planned activities drastically changed, but it also brought about new opportunities.
We managed to innovate, design and implement new programs identifying the needs of the current situation. Critical thinking and innovation played a key role here and it proved to be very effective in designing this program”. To ensure a sustainable model, advocates of the training program are encouraged to carry out their own independent projects to promote their learnings among their communities.
Towards the 2030 Agenda
Critical Media and Information Literacy transforms people’s interaction with information and learning environments online and offline. “As we face challenges in assessing the relevance and reliability of information, Critical Media and Information Literacy is important now more than ever.
Having this knowledge equips young people with competencies needed to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to enjoy the full benefits of the rights to freedom of expression and the right to information,” said Soyeon Kim, International UN Youth Volunteer, Youth and Innovations Assistant at the UNDP in Sri Lanka.Skills progression in Critical Media and Information Literacy enables young people to identify and critically analyse different types of media content to understand the messages they are sending.
It gives them the tools and analytical skills to pause and verify before forwarding information. This is not only key to fighting the infodemic but also crucial to building peaceful and inclusive societies.
As mentioned by one of the participants, “This program was extremely useful. If everyone becomes responsible media users, from families to communities and then towards the nation, we can assure to build a peaceful society.”