Media Literacy in the UK

The UK's Media and Information Literacy Alliance newsleter reported last month on the March debate in the House of Lords on progress with media literacy since their own report was published in July 2025: that report started by stating that "Social cohesion is at risk and democracy itself is threatened by inadequate media literacy. Being media literate—having the skills to think critically about the content we create and consume, both online and offline—is essential. Media literacy builds resilience, empowers individuals and protects them against harmful and misleading content. It enables them to be informed and responsible citizens"
That report is at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ldcomm/163/163.pdf The debate also refers to the UK's Online Safety Act 2023 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50. 
One point, raised by Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, was that the media literacy education of prisoners had been overlooked "They are media literacy denied". 
In her summing up, the Baroness Keeley said "I welcome the emphasis on critical thinking and thinking independently, which was one of the key things to come out strongly in the debate, as well as the discussion on visual literacy, which we cannot forget. The need for Ofcom to update its definition came up again and again, so we should perhaps keep on that. On the subject of libraries, which were mentioned, we must remember that so many libraries are now run by volunteers, so let us not think that they can take on extra responsibilities without the funding that goes with that." 
The transcript of the debate is on Hansard (which has transcripts of debates in both Houses of parliament)at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2026-03-16/debates/3DD3E3FA-64D7-4264-AA25-F0230A8F8BC4/MediaLiteracy(CommunicationsAndDigitalCommitteeReport).
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom in South London, April 2026