California’s new law requires K-12 students to learn media literacy

(NEW YORK) — California passed a new law that will mandate K-12 students to learn media literacy as part of their modules plan.

The bill is designed to help students develop skills in identifying false information online amid a worrying rise in distrust in the media.

Signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, Bill No. 873 requires media literary content to be incorporated into the mathematics, science and history-social science curriculum frameworks.

The bill, which will commence in January 2024, was introduced by Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Democrat representing San Mateo County in Northern California.

In a statement via his website, Berman highlighted the importance of integrating the course into the school syllabus, saying,”Teaching media literacy is a key strategy to support our children, their families, and our society that are inundated with misinformation and disinformation on social media networks and digital platforms.”

“As we’ve seen too often in the last decade, what happens online can have the most terrifying of real-world impacts,” the statement continued. “From climate denial to vaccine conspiracy theories to the January 6 attack on our nation’s Capital, the spread of online misinformation has had global and deadly consequences.”