MEDIA LITERACY ACROSS EUROPE

Resilience to the post-truth phenomenon

The post-truth phenomenon is a term that describes a reduction or negation of the role of facts in public life. In the online world, fake news, rumors, and conspiracy theories have become prevalent, challenging the public, who often lacks the time, motivation and knowledge required to evaluate information, to form a fact-based understanding of the world. The distribution of false and misleading information is not a new phenomenon; however, the online space has expanded its spreading to unprecedented levels, particularly in politics, international relations, as well as science and health. Three post-truth phenomena have become prominent in the online space: fake news, rumors, and conspiracy theories. Despite their centrality, there is a lack of clarity regarding the definitions of these terms, making it challenging for stakeholders and policymakers to engage in productive discussions.

Media Literacy Index 2023

The Index ranks the European countries according to their potential to withstand the ‘post-truth’ and its negative consequence, with the main assumption that indicators for media freedom, quality of education, interpersonal trust and e-participation can serve as predictors to the level of resilience of a society to fake news, post-truth and related phenomenon. The index combines four main indicators, attached varying weight, in Media Freedom, Education, Trust and New forms of participation to calculate and rank the countries. The Index refers to media literacy to gauge the potential for resilience to the negative effects of diminishing public trust, polarization in politics and society, and media fragmentation. According to the data gathered by the Index, the best equipped countries to resist post-truth and its ramifications are the Northwestern European countries, i.e. Scandinavian ones, the Netherlands as well as Estonia and Ireland. On the other side, the lowest scoring countries are in Southeast Europe. Scores are associated to indicators concerning media freedom, education and trust. The countries at the bottom of the ranking have low education scores, more controlled media, and low trust among people. The Index also serves the objective of offering useful instruments to find solutions to the consequences of post-truth in European societies. Education and media literacy are key to build resilience to the post-truth phenomena and to reduce polarization while enhancing trust in society and in the media.

1. Finland: 74
2. Denmark: 73
3. Norway: 72
4. Estonia: 71
5. Sweden: 71
6. Ireland: 70
7. Switzerland: 67
8. Netherlands: 64
9. Iceland: 62 
10. Belgium: 61
11. Germany: 61
12. Portugal: 60
13. United Kingdom: 60
14. Austria: 59
15. Czech Republic: 58
16. Spain: 58
17. France: 57
18. Latvia: 55
19. Slovenia: 55
20. Lithuania: 54
21. Luxembourg: 53
22. Poland: 53
23. Slovakia: 48
24. Italy: 47
25. Croatia: 45
26. Hungary: 41
27. Cyprus: 39
28. Greece: 38
29. Ukraine: 38
30. Serbia: 33
31. Moldova: 32
32. Montenegro: 32
33. Romania: 32
34. Bulgaria: 31
35. Turkey: 29
36. Bosnia & Herzegovina: 24
37. Albania: 23
38. North Macedonia: 22
39. Kosovo: 21
40. Georgia: 20