When Media Is No Longer “Real”: Navigating Synthetic Content and Critical AI Literacy
The quality of content we encounter in digital media is undergoing a silent but profound transformation. Images, videos, and texts are no longer produced solely by humans; automated systems, large datasets, and generative technologies have also become part of this process. This change, while increasing the speed and volume of the media landscape, is also beginning to challenge established assumptions about how content should be evaluated.Today, the "realism" of content we encounter in the digital environment says very little about how it was produced. Technical quality, visual consistency, or language fluency are no longer [...]
Learning in the Age of AI: Why Media Literacy Matters More Than Ever
The role of digital technologies in education has long been debated. First computers, then the internet, then online platforms, and now AI-powered tools… Each new wave of technology promises to transform learning processes. However, this transformation doesn't always produce the expected results. The fundamental issue we face in education today is not whether technology exists; it is how it relates to knowledge, learning, and thinking.AI-powered systems are significantly changing how students access information. Text-generating tools, automated summaries, recommendation systems, and personalised learning platforms are speeding up both the presentation and use of information. This [...]
Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: What is the ‘CSA’ Regulation, and Why is Everybody Talking about it?
09/01/2026 In recent years, digital technology has become increasingly essential to children's daily lives. As Internet access provides them with the opportunity to connect with their peers, learn new things, and creatively express themselves, it also makes them vulnerable to a variety of risks and threats. The most alarming threat they are exposed to is sexual abuse and exploitation. Child sexual abuse (CSA) is "the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is [...]
Beyond the Screens: Generations, Trust, and the Future of News
In the digital environment, access to information has reached unprecedented levels of speed and scale. News, comments, images, and claims can reach millions of users almost simultaneously. However, this intense circulation does not guarantee the reliability of information. On the contrary, false and misleading content can spread at the same speed and with the same visibility. This makes disinformation a structural problem rather than an individual error.For a long time, the fight against disinformation was based on individual awareness. Users were expected to check sources, question content, and think critically. While this approach was [...]
Democracy in the Age of Deepfakes: How Can We Still Trust What We See?
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced a new dimension to the information landscape, enabling the creation of fabricated videos, images, and voices that convincingly imitate reality. Known as “deepfakes”, these synthetic media forms have become increasingly sophisticated and accessible, prompting concern among European policymakers and citizens alike. While they may once have appeared as online jokes or curiosity pieces, they now pose a serious threat to democratic trust across Europe. In the lead-up to elections, during conflict, or in everyday social media use, manipulated content can spread fast, eroding confidence in [...]
Teen Age-Verification on Social Media: Australian & European Approaches
Every generation faces new frontier problems. For today’s teens, the frontier is digital — a world of likes, shares, endless scrolling, and unseen pressures. With concerns mounting about mental health, attention spans, and the unseen harms of social media, Australia has taken an important step: a law banning social media access for under-16s. As that policy looms, the question for other countries is unavoidable: is this kind of ban effective or a misunderstanding of technology and young people? In November 2024, the Parliament of Australia passed a world-first law prohibiting youth in early adolescence [...]
Cyberviolence Against Women in the EU: Tools, Tactics, and Responses
Violence against women no longer exists as a phenomenon confined to the physical world. As a consequence of the rise of digital technologies, a new type of harm has developed. Cyber Violence against Women and Girls (CVAWG) represents a relatively new, but pervasive dimension of gender-based violence. From targeted harassment and deepfake abuse to non-consensual sharing of intimate images and stalking, this form of gender-based cyberviolence represents such an insidious part of cyberspace as a consequence of its invisibility, with attacks happening behind screens, anonymously, and across platforms we use daily. While digital platforms [...]
Building Digital Media Literacy Competencies in the Classroom: Becoming Digital Citizens
Over the past several years, the growing need for students to not simply consume media products and content, but also to be critical evaluators and ethical producers themselves, has been a primary focus of media literacy scholars and researchers. For this very reason, the module “Building Digital Media Literacy Competencies in the Classroom: Becoming Digital Citizens” from the Teachers 4.0 Digital Curriculum, was designed by EAVI - Media Literacy for Citizenship intending to equip learners with the indispensable toolkit to become responsible and critical digital citizens. Navigating today's digital world is becoming more complex, [...]
When Convenience Costs: AI Tools and the Decline of Critical Thinking
A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab on the impact of ChatGPT on the human brain, published in June 2025, has not gone unnoticed by media professionals and media consumers – and that is rightly so. MIT neuroscientists conducted a study on 54 volunteer MIT undergraduates and postdoctoral researchers (aged 18 to 39), who were required to write essays with and without the assistance of ChatGPT to assess its influence on their neural activity (Belot, 2025). In order to meet this goal, they used EEG headsets that effectively measure [...]
“Peace in the Minds” and Media Now
“Peace in the Minds” and Media Now - Speech by Prof. Tapio Varis, the President of EAVI's Advisory Board at MIL and Global Understanding Conference 2025 on 28-29 April in Barcelona. The first Director-General, Sir Julian Huxley, was asked in 1947 by young diplomats in Paris, “What does UNESCO do?” The short answer was, “It strives for peace.” (Alfredo Picasso de Oyague, International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men, Yamoussoukro 1989, Ivory Coast). It is true that the 1945 Constitution of UNESCO explains the purpose of the organization as follows: “Collaborate in [...]
