Changes from plenary report to adopted text

6. Stresses the key roles that media literacy and digital learning play in empowering users to navigate the digital environment safely, including in combating cyberbullying and other forms of online harm; highlights, in particular, that providing media literacy and digital learning skills throughout the entire education path and within lifelong learning activities is crucial for developing and strengthening critical thinking, self-awareness and responsible behaviour online;

7. Stresses that media literacy policies should raise awareness of how digital environments and platform design influence the way information is accessed, including the ability to understand the functioning of algorithms and to recognise addictive design and emotionally manipulative content;

8. Stresses the growing impact of digital environments on users’ mental health and well-being; calls on the Commission and the Member States to include in media literacy and digital learning programmes the development of digital empathy, responsible online behaviour and an understanding of the impact of the digital environment on mental health and well-being, as important elements in the prevention of cyberbullying and the promotion of digital well-being;

9. Underlines the importance of using all the relevant regulatory instruments available and of fostering cooperation between all relevant actors, as needed, to achieve an EU approach to media literacy and digital learning;

10. Highlights the importance of strengthening cooperation between public and private stakeholders to promote media literacy across the EU; emphasises the important role of civil society organisations, community initiatives, volunteers and cultural actors in building trust, thereby fostering dialogue in public debate;

11. Welcomes the work of the Media Literacy Expert Group and the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), and their important role in bringing together policymakers, researchers and practitioners to build a multidisciplinary community of experts, share best practices and enhance awareness; calls for strengthening their activities on media literacy to support cooperation among Member States;

12. Underlines the importance of introducing media literacy and digital learning to school curricula during the entire process of formal education and the need to develop an evidence-based and holistic approach to the use of digital technologies in schools;

13. Highlights the importance of promoting media literacy and digital learning beyond formal education and in the workplace, ensuring a lifelong learning and whole-of-society approach involving governments, educational institutions, civil society, media organisations, technology platforms and families;

14. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to establish a structured monitoring and evaluation framework for national media literacy actions, including measurable indicators assessing knowledge, behavioural outcomes, the development of critical thinking, and resilience to disinformation, including through longitudinal studies and the evaluation of age-appropriate approaches and parental support programmes;

Media literacy and digital learning: strengthening the pillars of the modern media ecosystem

15. Calls for the EU institutions and the Member States to cooperate on establishing a coordinated EU approach to media literacy and digital learning;

16. Calls on the Commission to assess and, where appropriate, propose a clear common EU approach to age-appropriate access to online platforms, particularly social media platforms, following an approach based on the protection of children’s well-being, a recognition of minors’ cognitive and emotional development needs, and the need to ensure a safe and age-appropriate digital environment, while fully respecting fundamental rights and differences in national approaches;

17. Calls on the Commission to evaluate the relevant provisions of the AVMSD, ensure its enforcement and propose targeted amendments to further increase protection levels for users on video-sharing platforms, particularly minors, expand media content rules to influencers and content creators, and ensure effective labelling of AI-generated, AI-manipulated and commercially sponsored content, without relying solely on labels or automated indicators;

18. Calls for the development and promotion of codes of conduct and clear guidelines for influencers and content creators on the integration of media literacy and digital learning principles into their content, in the light of their significant role in shaping information consumption patterns, particularly among young people; encourages online platforms to give greater visibility, including through recommendation systems, to content that actively promotes media literacy, critical thinking and online safety;

19. Calls on the Member States to provide effective oversight and ensure that video-sharing platforms comply with their obligation to provide effective media literacy measures and tools and to raise users’ awareness of such measures and tools, as stipulated under Article 28(b)(3) AVMSD; calls on national regulatory authorities and bodies to use the cooperation mechanism established under Article 15 of the European Media Freedom Act to ensure that this obligation is enforced effectively across the EU;

20. Recalls that Member States are obliged, under Article 33(a) AVMSD, to promote and take measures for the development of media literacy skills and to report to the Commission on the implementation of these measures; encourages national media regulators to consult representatives of all population groups when developing such measures, and to take a tailored approach, addressing the needs of all ages, when applying such measures; calls on the Member States to ensure that such authorities have stable and dedicated funding to promote and implement media literacy measures;

21. Urges very large online platforms to put in place reasonable, proportionate and effective mitigation measures to address systemic risks stemming from the exploitation of insufficient media literacy and digital learning skills of users, particularly minors, as required by the Digital Services Act (DSA); calls on very large online platforms to carry out media literacy and digital learning impact assessments to proactively identify how the design of their services may affect users’ capacity to access, create and engage with content;

22. Stresses that such impact assessments should also take into account the effects on users’ well-being and cognitive and socio-emotional development and mental health, as well as the risks linked to engagement-driven or potentially addictive design features; calls for such assessments to be made transparent, independent and publicly available;

23. Calls on the Commission to ensure that media literacy commitments are effectively implemented under the DSA Code of Conduct on disinformation;

24. Calls on the Commission to cover media literacy and digital learning in its review of the DSA guidelines on measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors online, in particular with regard to media literacy and digital learning measures that could be taken by online platforms to ensure an age-appropriate experience for minors online;

25. Invites the European Board for Media Services to use the structured dialogue under Article 19 of the EMFA to monitor actions taken by very large online platforms on media literacy and to strengthen dialogue between media service providers on promoting media literacy and digital learning and the visibility of reputable media online;

26. Stresses that media literacy policies must fully respect freedom of expression and media pluralism and should empower users without restricting access to diverse sources of information;

27. Stresses that media literacy depends not only on users’ ability to critically assess information, but also on the existence of strong, independent and high-quality journalism providing reliable, verified and pluralistic information; calls on the Commission to strengthen support for traditional media at European, national, regional, and local level, given their essential role in informing citizens, including by promoting fair remuneration for journalistic content and ensuring sustainable funding, notably through programmes such as the future AgoraEU programme;

28. Asks the Commission to prioritise media literacy actions within the media resilience programme and to ensure that such actions reach all age categories (young people, adults and seniors) in rural, remote and urban areas;

29. Calls on the Member States to ensure that national media literacy measures include specific outreach strategies for socio-economically disadvantaged groups, persons with disabilities, people living in remote areas, and those with lower digital skill levels, in order to prevent media literacy and digital learning gaps from reinforcing broader inequalities;

30. Stresses the need to ensure stable and long-term EU funding for media literacy and digital learning; calls on the Commission to prioritise media literacy initiatives under relevant EU programmes, including the future AgoraEU programme, with a focus on critical thinking, resilience to disinformation and media pluralism;

31. Calls on the Commission’s Media Literacy Expert Group, the European Media Services Board and the European Board for Digital Services to closely cooperate on matters related to media literacy and digital learning, and provide further guidance on practical actions that could be taken at national level;

32. Asks the Commission to build on the European Media Literacy Week as an annual flagship event to showcase examples of best practice and provide an inclusive forum for discussion and capacity building, and to encourage a wide range of stakeholders and institutions, including the European Parliament liaison offices (EPLOs) in the Member States and international organisations, to actively participate in promoting media literacy and digital learning, ensuring that such events represent a plurality of views;

Media literacy and digital learning: promoting a holistic and future-oriented education system

33. Calls on the Commission to recognise media literacy and digital education as basic skills for all citizens; calls on the Member States to incorporate media literacy and digital learning into their education curricula in an age-appropriate manner; stresses that analogue tools can be used to foster media literacy;

34. Calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to media literacy in the 2030 roadmap on the future of digital education and skills, and to strengthening digital competences, preventing cyberbullying and promoting digital well-being;

35. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to provide a European guide and other educational materials on media literacy tailored to all age groups and educational levels, and to organise regular workshops, focusing on critical thinking, verification of information sources, media pluralism, responsible media participation, and the role of fact-checking organisations, journalistic self-regulatory bodies and community media, as well as guidance for parents and caregivers on age-appropriate media use, online risks and AI tools;

36. Encourages the Member States to consult and cooperate with educators, researchers, academia, civil society organisations, parents, caregivers and youth organisations when developing and evaluating media literacy and digital learning initiatives, to ensure that they respond to the needs of learners and educators;

37. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure that the deployment of digital learning tools in education is free from undue commercial influence; emphasises that cooperation with private sector actors should be transparent, education-driven and in the public interest;

38. Calls on the Member States to strengthen media literacy and digital learning programmes to enable users to distinguish between editorial, commercial and synthetic content and identify persuasive techniques; stresses the need to integrate AI literacy into these programmes to enable recognition of AI-generated content and related risks of manipulation and misinformation;

39. Calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States, to urgently and comprehensively assess the impact of digital devices and services, including AI tools, in educational settings on learning outcomes, cognitive development, well-being, mental health and attention spans, in order to support their responsible use in schools; urges the Commission to propose, where needed, policy measures, which could envisage targeted restrictions or prohibitions, particularly in early childhood education, to ensure that the use of digital technologies in education is strictly justified from a pedagogical point of view, age-appropriate, proportionate and based on independent scientific evidence, so that such tools support learning processes rather than replacing them;

40. Encourages the Member States to ensure continuous training for both educators – whether in formal, non-formal or informal education – and librarians in media and digital education, supported by adequate funding; calls on the Commission to strengthen media literacy training through Safer Internet Centres, the Better Internet for Kids platform and relevant EU platforms;

41. Calls on the Commission and the relevant national regulatory authorities or bodies to conduct educational and public awareness campaigns on media literacy and digital learning in order to increase awareness of how digital environments shape behaviour online, and on available parental control measures, the existing legal obligations of online platforms, and the available support mechanisms, including organisations providing accessible mental health support;

42. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote lifelong media literacy and digital learning for all citizens, targeting adults, elderly people and vulnerable populations;

43. Recognises the role of public libraries, community centres and civil society organisations as trusted, accessible and inclusive hubs for media literacy and digital learning that contribute to social inclusion, democratic participation and equal access to knowledge, culture and information; calls on the Member States to strengthen partnerships and investment in these key local infrastructures through adequate funding, staff training and access to up-to-date digital tools and resources;

44. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support, in cooperation with public-interest actors and relevant stakeholders, the development of resilient and trustworthy digital ecosystems that strengthen Europe’s digital resilience, media pluralism and citizens’ access to accurate and reliable information;

45. Calls on the Member States and their regional and local authorities to promote media literacy and digital education in an innovative and creative manner across urban environments, both physical and digital, in order to foster democratic participation and civic engagement; emphasises that cities play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of public spaces, which are increasingly affected by the information environment;

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46. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.