Data citizenship: rethinking data literacy in the age of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation

Abstract

In this paper we examine what 'data literacy' -under various definitions -means at a time of persistent distribution of 'dis-/mis-/mal-information' via digital media. The paper first explores the definition of literacies (written, media, information, digital and data literacies) considering the various parameters and considerations they have gone through. We then examine the intersection of dis-/mis-/mal-information and 'fake-news' and these literacies. The paper explores what types of literacies are needed today and the important role of variations in citizens' social context. We highlight three main gaps in current data literacy frameworks -1. going beyond the individual; 2. critical thinking of the online ecosystem; and 3. designing skills for proactive citizens. We discuss these gaps while highlighting how we integrated these into our survey of UK citizens' data literacies as part of our Nuffield Foundation funded project -Me and My Big Data. By discussing our theoretical and methodological challenges we aim to shed light on not only how the definition of data literacy changes but also how we can develop education programmes that take into account information distortions and put proactive citizens at the centre.

Becoming Open Knowledge Institutions: Divergence, Dialogue and Diversity

“…COKI embraces diversity in bringing together evidence of open research practices from different sources and challenging institutions to review their diversity and inclusion practices and outcomes. We encourage sharing of project data, software and visual dashboard code among researchers, library, research and technical staff and senior executives to enable critical data literacy upskilling [9,20] and to facilitate dialogue. Options for alternative research publishing practices are well established, but are overshadowed by processes constrained by third party organisations with commercial interests in maintaining dominance in the scholarly communication market.…”

Countering misinformation: A multidisciplinary approach

“…It is also important to understand the problems related to the 'fake news' expression. As Carmi et al (2020) noted, although the term fake news was coined to capture the use of dis-and mis-information in news reporting it is being used by political actors in attempt to discredit news reporting and reported facts they dislike. Due to the lack of a definition of fake news, some authorities such as the UK Government (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMSC), 2019) avoid using the term altogether.…”

Societal Information Cultures: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Lack of information literacy exposes citizens to risks and personal, social and physical harm [ 14 ]. The misinformation around the Covid-19 pandemic provides a vivid example of those risks.…”

“…As the WHO Director General explained: “…we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus and is just as dangerous…” 1 Dis-, mis- and mal-information thrive in the online attention economy of sensational and click-bait content of social media sites underlining the need for people to have the skills to interpret and respond critically to information disseminated by digital media [ 14 ].…”