The difficulties of many citizens in assessing the credibility of information onlinedistinguish facts from opinions and understand how digital media works constitute a structural vulnerability for democracy in Portugal. That’s what he defends researcher Ana Joaquim.
In the study When Citizens Cannot Read the Media: Challenges for Democracy (When citizens cannot read the media: challenges for democracy, in free translation), on media literacy and democratic resilience, the author argued that a lack of critical skills increases exposure to misinformation. Another consequence is that it contributes to political polarization and weakens trust in institutions.
“Media illiteracy is not just an individual problem. It is a structural vulnerability that affects the quality of public debate and the functioning of the democratic system”, Ana Joaquim, a researcher at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, told Lusa. The investigation indicated that, although digital environments have expanded opportunities for civic participation, this participation tends to become more reactive and emotional when citizens do not have instruments to critically interpret information.
According to the study, low levels of media literacy are associated with forms of participation “episodic and poorly anchored in deliberative norms”in which polarizing or simplified content gains greater visibility and impact. Portugal presents overall positive results in education and press freedom indicators, but continues to reveal weaknesses in the critical evaluation of information online.
For the author, although the majority of citizens recognize the importance of digital skills, A significant part admits difficulties in identifying reliable sources or evaluating the credibility of content. Ana Joaquim highlighted that this limitation contributes to an effect of widespread distrust. “When citizens cannot distinguish between reliable journalism and manipulated content, suspicion tends to extend to all sources of information,” he said.
The study also warned that responses to the phenomenon cannot be based solely on content moderation mechanisms or regulatory measures aimed at digital platforms. “Without citizens capable of understanding how information is produced, selected and amplified, policies to combat disinformation end up treating the symptoms and not the causes”, he maintained.
The author defended the integration of media literacy as a central component of democratic education, throughout the entire life cycle, involving schools, media, public institutions and civil society organizationsl. Strengthening these competencies, he concluded, must be understood as part of the democratic infrastructure itself, in terms of electoral integrity, press freedom and institutional transparency.
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