The UK government plans to lower the voting age to 16 (you can already vote in Scottish and Welsh parliamentary and local elections at 16 if you are qualified to vote in Scotland/ Wales) so there is interest in how this younger cohort of voters might engage with information relevant to voting decisions.
Earlier in the year a report was published by Internet Matters and Full Fact. Internet matters is a not-for-profit that works "collaboratively with our partners to support our joint vision of a safer, happier connected world for children and young people" (partners include Tiktok, Amazon Kids, Sky). Full Fact is the fact checking organisation.
The report uses "November 2025 data from Internet Matters Pulse ... based on a survey of 573 children aged 13-17 and 801 parents of children aged 13-17 based in the UK") and also previous Internet Matters research.
The report identifies that this age group encounters political information online, their confidence that they can evaluate it is in the 50%s and when asked about their peers' confidence, that is rated even lower. A small majority are concerened about the veracity of what politicians say and about the impact on misinformation on election results. A large majority of young people think that schools, parents / carers, Government, and social media companies all have responsibility to support them in being more informed voters (they were not asked whether they felt they had a responsibility to develop themselves). The report makes recommendations for various stakeholders, including about media and digital literacy. Sadly, librarians/ libraries are not mentioned.
Internet Matters. (2026, February 8). Preparing young voters in a complex, attention-driven information environment. https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/preparing-young-people-to-vote-in-a-complex-attention-driven-environment/
Photo by Sheila Webber: spring branches, April 2026
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