Young People’s Summit Addresses Digital Citizenship in Era of Misinformation

Young people must become critical digital citizens to counter misinformation, experts say at Malta summit

The 3CL Foundation brought together policymakers, educators, and media professionals yesterday for its “Young People’s Summit: Young People, Digital Citizenship and the Media” in Malta. The event addressed growing concerns about media literacy and the challenges of navigating today’s complex digital landscape.

Chaired by Alex Grech, the summit tackled how rapidly evolving technologies and social media platforms are reshaping information consumption at a pace that often outstrips regulatory frameworks and educational responses.

Estonian media literacy expert Maia Klaasen delivered perhaps the most impactful insights of the day, urging attendees to understand digital citizenship as something far more profound than technical proficiency.

“Just because you know how to use something doesn’t mean you know how to use its full potential,” Klaasen told the audience, emphasizing that young people need training not just in consuming information but in critically analyzing it.

Drawing on Estonia’s experience as a leader in digital education, Klaasen explained that her country has integrated media literacy into its national curriculum, helping students identify misinformation and understand how algorithms shape online content. Yet she cautioned that even Estonia, which ranks highly in international media literacy indices, isn’t immune to the challenges of disinformation.

“Media literacy alone will not save the world,” she noted. “It is a necessary tool in a wider effort to build resilience against disinformation.”

Klaasen highlighted the fundamental problem with today’s online environment: social media platforms are engineered by “the best neuroscientists in the world” to capture attention rather than inform users. This creates what she termed an “attention economy” where engagement trumps accuracy.

“Our attention is the commodity,” she explained. “There is no financial incentive to keep people informed, only entertained.” She pointed to the evolution of streaming services as evidence of this shift, with content increasingly formatted for distracted viewing and multitasking.

Nina Shengelia, another panelist, emphasized the growing difficulty in distinguishing authentic information from fabricated content online. She criticized social media companies for failing to take adequate responsibility for false information spreading on their platforms, calling for greater collaboration between journalists, policymakers, and educators to address these issues.

The summit showcased several successful youth-led initiatives from Estonia that demonstrate what’s possible when young people are empowered to lead digital literacy efforts. One such project, the “Digital Blunder Wall,” began as a university exercise where students anonymously shared their online mistakes on a physical wall made from recycled phone covers.

“It showed that we’ve all done something silly online,” Klaasen said. “It doesn’t mean we’re stupid – it means we need to become more aware.” The project later expanded to museums and public spaces, fostering conversations about digital behavior and responsibility.

Another initiative, the “TikTok House,” was installed in Estonian Christmas markets to raise awareness about data privacy issues. Despite minimal advertising, the project reached over 1.5 million people by encouraging visitors to create short videos reflecting on TikTok’s data practices.

Klaasen also described a peer-to-peer training program where university students conducted media literacy workshops for more than 5,000 secondary school pupils. “We have to trust young people,” she insisted. “They can connect better with their peers than we ever could.”

The Estonian approach extends to early childhood education as well. Klaasen’s team developed offline games teaching children as young as five about online safety, including practical skills like avoiding scams in popular games like Roblox. These programs have reached more than 10,000 children across Estonia and are freely available to replicate.

“Knowledge must trickle down,” Klaasen stated, underscoring Estonia’s commitment to making these educational resources widely accessible with public funding.

The summit also addressed intergenerational learning, with Klaasen describing workshops where young people taught older citizens to navigate the internet safely. She pushed back against stereotypes about older populations being unable to adapt to digital environments. “If we say that people cannot change, why have education at all?” she asked.

As the event concluded, speakers collectively emphasized that combating misinformation requires education, awareness, and cross-generational collaboration. While technical solutions and platform accountability remain important, the most resonant message was Klaasen’s call for youth empowerment.

“The definition of the problem should not come from us but from them,” she said of young people. “Sometimes the only outcome is that people feel less fatalistic about what is happening online – and that is also a victory.”

The Young People’s Summit continues today with additional sessions exploring digital citizenship and media literacy in the modern age.