Improve Media Literacy to Counter Misinformation (AU0031)

Summary

A partnership with the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) will be established to help improve media literacy in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities that are vulnerable to the impacts of mis- and dis- information. This partnership will also improve government capacity to design community-specific media approaches in the future. Funding provided under the partnership with FECCA ($1.5 million over 2023–24 to 2024–25) will help communities critically engage with information publicised through media channels and to be able to spot false narratives, thereby reducing their vulnerability to associated harms. It will also help improve the knowledge base within the Australian Government of the media habits, resources and media influencers among CALD communities.

Why this commitment is important

Media literacy programs assist in building cognitive skills allowing people to process media in a more critical and active way. Some CALD communities are at risk of higher exposure to online misinformation, particularly among non-English speakers. Desktop research suggests that migrant communities rely less on mainstream media sources for news and information, and more on digital media, including in-language news on social media platforms and private messaging apps. Understanding these demographic differences is important to help governments and industry design targeted communication and interventions. Spreading mis- and dis-information in media and social media about minority communities promotes marginalisation and hate speech, and undermines social cohesion and Australia as a progressive and inclusive multicultural nation. This commitment will assist with empowering CALD communities to identify and avoid harms associated with the spread of mis- and dis-information, while supporting government to better design CALD community-specific communication and interventions in the future.

Related OGP challenge areas

• Public participation • Gender

How the impact of this commitment can be measured

FECCA will administer a program to recipient community organisations and will be providing regular reports on its activities under the grant. FECCA will partner with DITRDCA to improve knowledge base to better design communication interventions that target CALD communities.

Other relevant information e.g. inquiries, research work being undertaken

FECCA represents over 1500 multicultural community organisations and their members. Operating as a sophisticated two-way conduit between government and multicultural communities, FECCA’s partnership enables the development of a participatory and inclusive program. The Department of Home Affairs network of Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) have an essential role in supporting Australia’s vibrant multicultural society by building and maintaining relationships with a wide range of cultural, religious and ethnic communities. CLOs disseminate Australian Government information to CALD communities, reinforce critical messaging and engage to understand the impact of messaging on CALD communities, which helps to counter the spread of misinformation. OGP Global has previously provided information on this topic following COVID-19, including examples from other jurisdictions.

Milestones*

8.1 Program launch Launch of the Supporting media literacy for CALD communities program; applications open

8.2 Program operation Supporting media literacy for CALD communities program operates

8.3 Report back to the Forum 8.4 Project completion

* Additional or more detailed milestones may be added in 2024, following Government consideration.

Action Plan Review

Commitment 8. Countering mis- and dis-information in culturally and linguistically diverse communities