Seoul Declaration on Media and Information Literacy for Everyone and by Everyone

Nov 23, 2020

The Feature Conference and Youth Agenda Forum, led by UNESCO, was held in March 2020 where an array of Media literacy experts met to discuss the changing landscape of Global Media and Information literacy. See below to find out what was discussed.

The outcomes of the deliberations in the Feature Conference and Youth Agenda Forum have been immortalized in the Seoul Declaration on Media and Information Literacy for Everyone and by Everyone: A Defence against Disinfodemics. This Seoul Declaration benefited from a consultation with close to one thousand registered participants.

Through the Seoul Declaration, partners and participants called for media and information literacy for all. They:

  • Emphasized that “media and information literacy (MIL) is a core competency for addressing the disinfodemic, and that MIL also contributes to access to information, freedom of expression, protection of privacy, prevention of violent extremism, promotion of digital security and combating hate speech and inequality”.
  • Recognized “UNESCO’s effort to promote a Global MIL Cities Framework to stimulate creative learning about MIL in city spaces and the involvement of non-traditional actors in promoting MIL”.
  • Called on duty bearers at the national to city levels to “commit to advancing ‘Media and Information Literacy for Everyone and by Everyone’ through policy and resource allocation across all relevant areas, including education, health, elections, child protection, climate, gender equality, governance and regulation, to mention some examples”.
  • Urged technological intermediaries to “play an accountable role, through institutionalized multi-stakeholder systems, as part of the social endeavor to tackle disinformation and to build communities that are media and information literate”.
  • Requested UNESCO, in cooperation with other UN Agencies, to “maintain a focus on inclusion of disadvantaged groups in MIL engagements, and to continue to foster gender equality in relation to MIL.”

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