About MediaSmartOnline

The main objective of this campaign was to test out an approach for running a Europe-wide media literacy awareness-raising campaign in collaboration with the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs). Such a media literacy campaign needed to build on the networking resources available in the SICs and, at the same time, maximise the efforts and activities of other stakeholders involved in supporting practices, developing policy and carrying out research into media literacy including NGOs, government agencies and industry.

We did not aim to replace or compete against any existing media literacy campaign per se, but we aimed to position ourselves as a BIK+ media literacy campaign in collaboration with the Insafe network, while showing we have a good understanding of the wider landscape and existing initiative, as to build synergies and opportunities for collaboration whenever possible.

The campaign underwent four main phases:

• Phase I: mapping the current EU landscape of media literacy initiatives (September 2023 - February 2024)
• Phase II: the pilot phase (January - April 2024)
• Phase III: the Media Literacy Campaign Working Group (June - October 2024)
• Phase IV: the first full roll-out (October - November 2024)

More information about the background of the campaign is available on the campaign page.

Phase I: the mapping

Media literacy in Europe is characterised by being a rather diverse and somewhat fragmented area of interest with a wide variety of different players involved, and the fact that there is a lack of a common understanding and agreement as to what constitutes media literacy, and the extent to which it is synonymous with media education, information and digital literacy, adds further complexity. Interest in media literacy is on the rise, largely as a direct result of our increasing concern with the fight against disinformation and misinformation.

Between September and December 2023, Better Internet for Kids conducted a mapping exercise with the aim to identify as many as possible media literacy initiatives, resources or tools all around Europe and beyond. The Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres (SIC) was consulted to help map the current EU media literacy landscape and collect suggestions on priorities for an EU-wide media literacy campaign. More specifically, the survey asked SICs about their current media literacy actions, campaigns, and key partners, and specifically requested to evaluate the current status of media literacy education within the Safer Internet Centre’s work programme. In addition, the Media and Learning Association (MLA) collected a vast selection of current media literacy activities and actions in Europe, by summarising current important activities, key organisations and driving factors. 

Learn more about the mapping of the media literacy initiatives, landscape and industry in the context of Better Internet for Kids.

Phase II: the pilot

A pilot phase of the MediaSmartOnline campaign launched on 8 March 2024, and ran until 17 April 2024. The pilot campaign was scoped and delivered first in three countries (Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland), whose SICs agreed to support and cooperate in testing this approach. Campaigning materials were designed within the frame of the pilot aimed to deliver some of the key messaging around four focus topics within the field of media literacy – Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual worlds and immersive realities, mis- and disinformation, online hate speech – and to spotlight media literacy actions and initiatives in the three pilot countries.

The MediaSmartOnline pilot campaign showed encouraging success indicators across various metrics, highlighting significant engagement and reach among its target audience – children and young people, parents and caregivers, teachers and educators. Notably, dissemination efforts were collectively spread across various stakeholders, including BIK, MLA and the SICs of the pilot countries. Collectively, it has reached millions of users across various communications channels: social media (LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram), various blog posts and articles, original YouTube video content created specifically for this campaign, and several newsletters. The full campaign report is available here.

Following the pilot phase, various feedback was collected from the Safer Internet Centres involved in the pilot campaign, the Media Literacy Campaign Working Group (MLC-WG) was set up to furtherly develop the campaign, and contribute to the concept, creation, planning and delivery of the full roll-out in the following months.

Phase III-IV: the MLG-WG and the full roll-out

The Working Group met several times between June and October 2024. It currently includes representatives of 10 different
Safer Internet Centres: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia (pilot country), France, Greece, Ireland (pilot country), Italy, Malta, Poland (pilot country). Each meetings then served as an opportunity to brainstorm and discuss the specifics of the full roll-out, taking into consideration each SIC’s national priorities, calendar, and needs. Finally, the campaign was also consulted with the media literacy experts from the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) to draw on the media literacy best practices identified by EDMO and ensure complementarity with its activities.

The first, full roll-out started on 24 October (the first day of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week), and ran until 5 December 2024. 

The campaign had a similar structure to the Safer Internet Day campaign: a long-term campaign that is progressive and involves continued effort which builds on its foundations and expands its scope each year, ensuring that its brand and visual identity become more established over time. Similarly to SID, there wasn't a directed content breakdown for the Safer Internet Centres involved, and we encouraged localisation of assets as much as possible. We also acknowledged that each SIC might have a different sensitivity when it comes to this topic.

The full roll-out took place on the various BIK social media channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, X) , and we launched a brand-new Instagram account for the occasion, which served as our main channel of communication. There, we shared key information about the context of the campaign, on some of its key topics, and we embarked on a journey all around Europe to spotlight the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres, and a selection of recent media literacy initiatives, resources, events, and trainings that each SIC organises at the national level. If you want to catch up on this journey, you can find everything on the MediaSmartOnline Instagram account.

Guide Be MediaSmartOnline

One of the main campaigning materials was the new guide BeMediaSmartOnline, collecting a wide range (+100) of media literacy programmes, actions, trainings, campaigns and other initiatives currently available across Europe, thanks to the efforts of the network of Safer Internet Centres. It is based on the extensive and resourceful materials collected in the mapping exercise of the EU media literacy landscape that was part of the piloting activities, and on the consultation of the network of Safer Internet Centres all across Europe. You can browse based on country, language, type of media literacy action, and target audience.

Let's hear it from... the youth!

In addition, we wouldn't be Better Internet for Kids if we didn't want to capture the voices and opinions of young people - as their views are really at the core of our work. Therefore, as part of this campaign, we've interviewed three young people aged 15 and 16 from all over Europe, and asked them to reflect on their perspective of media literacy, their concerns and wishes looking ahead, and discussed specific topics such as artificial intelligence, misinformation and fake news, online hate speech, and more. You can find all three interviews below:

• MediaSmartOnline: Let's hear it from the youth! | Ingeborg
• MediaSmartOnline: Let's hear it from the youth! | Mikołaj
• MediaSmartOnline: Let's hear it from the youth! | Rayan

Phase V: what's next?

The campaigning activities have now ended, but this is not a farewell - just a goodbye!

• The MediaSmartOnline page will remain available and continue being updated with useful materials, resources, infographics...
• The guide Be MediaSmartOnline will continue expanding with new initiatives for everyone to consult and download. 
• With the campaigning period being over, we're now entering an evaluation phase - we'll reflect on the campaign's impact, and see how we can improve in the future.

On social media, you can always find MediaSmartOnline on Instagram.

The MediaSmartOnline campaign ran in cooperation with the network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) within the framework of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) project.