The State of Media Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa 2020 and a Theory of Misinformation Literacy

This chapter examines the teaching of ‘media literacy’ in state-run schools in seven Sub-Saharan African countries as of mid-2020, as relates to misinformation.

It explains the limited elements of media and information literacy (MIL) that are included in the curricula in the seven countries studied and the elements of media literacy related to misinformation taught in schools in one province of South Africa since January 2020: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

The authors propose six fields of knowledge and skills specific to misinformation that are required in order to reduce students’ susceptibility to false and misleading claims. Identifying obstacles to the introduction and effective teaching of misinformation literacy, the authors make five recommendations for the promotion of misinformation literacy in schools, to reduce the harm misinformation causes.

Year Country Organisation Author Type
2020 Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda University of Westminster Press Cunliffe-Jones, P. et al. academic article, book chapter, report, research report
Theory of Change Keywords Download/link
Intermediate Outcome 2 education, media literacy, misinformation Download/link