Information Defence & Counter-Interference

1517 · 509 years ago

Martin Luther's use of the printing press triggered a continent-wide contest of competing pamphlets and rebuttals

The new technology allowed claims, counterclaims and fabricated attributions to spread across Europe faster than authorities could respond, a dynamic historians regard as an early precursor to the challenges of the modern information environment.

1622 · 404 years ago

The Catholic Church founded the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide

The body, created to coordinate missionary communication, gave the word propaganda its modern currency; the term was applied to organised persuasion long before the mass media technologies that later made it central to information warfare.

1903 · 123 years ago

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion began circulating as a fabricated antisemitic text

Fabricated by Russian secret police and proven to be a forgery by an investigation published in the Times of London in 1921, the document nonetheless continued to circulate for over a century, illustrating how debunking rarely eliminates a falsehood's reach.

1917 · 109 years ago

The United States created the Committee on Public Information to mobilise wartime public opinion

Known as the Creel Committee, it pioneered techniques of mass persuasion through posters, film and press releases, and its methods informed both later government communications practice and the scepticism that fuelled early propaganda-analysis movements.

1933 · 93 years ago

Nazi Germany established the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda

The ministry centralised control of press, radio and film to shape public opinion in support of the regime, becoming a reference point in later debates about state propaganda and prompting post-war protections for press freedom and pluralism.

• The United Nations affirmed freedom of information as a human right in 1948

early 20th century · 126 years ago

US high school English teachers began using film to develop critical thinking in classrooms

Media literacy education in the United States is traced to early twentieth-century English teachers who used film to build students' critical thinking and communication skills. This marked the first pedagogical interest in analysing media rather than merely using it.

1950s–60s · 76 years ago

Marshall McLuhan ignited the North American media literacy movement

The Canadian communication scholar's work sparked educational interest in analysing media across North America. His influence underpinned the later formalisation of media literacy as a school subject.

1950s–60s · 76 years ago

US educators developed the 'film grammar' approach to media literacy education

American teaching about media coalesced around analysing the formal grammar of film. This established a distinction between teaching with media and teaching about media.

1970 · 56 years ago

Finland introduced media education into the elementary curriculum

Finland placed media education in primary schooling, extending it to high schools in 1977. This early institutionalisation underlies Finland's later position as the top-ranked country for media literacy efforts.

1970s–80s · 56 years ago

Germany produced the first theoretical publications on media literacy

German scholarship on media literacy emerged in these decades, followed by growing interest in media education inside and outside the school system in the 1980s and 1990s. This built a European theoretical base for the field.

1970s–90s · 56 years ago

Russia (Soviet and post-Soviet educators) launched the first official film and media education programmes

Programmes, doctoral study and empirical work by scholars including Baranov, Penzin, Usov and Fedorov established media education as a research field. This laid the basis for later formal recognition of the specialisation.

1970s–80s · 56 years ago

English-speaking world experienced a shift in attitudes to mass media and mass culture

Changing views of mass media and popular culture reframed media education from protectionism towards critical analysis. This shift shaped subsequent curricula.

1976 · 50 years ago

Project Censored began using a service learning model to teach media literacy

The project cultivated media literacy skills among students and faculty in higher education. It extended media literacy practice beyond schools into universities.

1978 · 48 years ago

Association for Media Literacy was formed in Ontario, marking the first formalised media literacy education in North America

The AML's founding is commonly cited as the beginning of a formal approach to media literacy as an educational topic in North America. It gave the movement institutional shape.

1983 · 43 years ago

Soviet intelligence spread the false claim that the United States created HIV as a bioweapon

First planted in an Indian newspaper and amplified through Soviet-linked outlets over subsequent years, the operation, later documented in declassified archives, became a textbook case study in how a fabricated claim can circulate for decades.

early 1990s · 36 years ago

US states added media literacy to English education curriculum frameworks

Growing recognition of media's central role in contemporary culture pushed media literacy into state curriculum documents. This was the first systematic entry of the capability into American public schooling.

1990s · 36 years ago

East Asian education systems began a shift towards media literacy

Media literacy gained traction in East Asian schooling from the 1990s onward. This broadened the capability beyond Western education systems.

1998 · 28 years ago

Young Journalists Group (YOJO) was created in Vietnam to combat false media accounts

YOJO was established with UNICEF and Vietnamese National Radio to counter inaccurate reporting. It is an early example of media literacy work aimed directly at falsehood.

2001 · 25 years ago

Cybermohalla programme began bringing technology access to Indian youths

The programme aimed to give young people access to technology and media production skills. It represents South Asian entry into media literacy practice.

2002 · 24 years ago

Russian education ministry registered a 'Media Education' specialisation for pedagogical universities

The new specialisation (No. 03.13.30) formalised teacher training in media education. A Media Education academic journal followed in 2005, partly sponsored by the ICOS UNESCO 'Information for All' programme.

2003 · 23 years ago

The Annenberg Public Policy Center launched FactCheck.org

One of the first dedicated political fact-checking websites, it pioneered a format for verifying specific claims by politicians and public figures that outlets in many other countries later adapted to their own contexts.

2003 · 23 years ago

UK Government enshrined promotion of media literacy in the Communications Act 2003

Media literacy promotion became a statutory responsibility of the new regulator Ofcom under New Labour policy. This made a national regulator formally accountable for public media literacy.

2006 · 20 years ago

Dutch government placed media literacy on the national agenda

The Netherlands identified media literacy as an important subject for Dutch society. An official expertise centre, the mediawijsheid expertisecentrum, followed in April 2008.

2008 · 18 years ago

News Literacy Project was founded to teach US students to sort fact from fiction

The project initially supplied curricular materials for grades 6–12 focused on evaluating information in the digital age. In 2020 it expanded to audiences of all ages and made its resources free of charge.

April 2008 · 18 years ago

Dutch government created an official media literacy expertise centre

The mediawijsheid expertisecentrum was established to coordinate national media literacy work. It institutionalised the policy commitment made in 2006.

early 21st century

Digitalisation and information and communication technologies transformed media and the basic principles of media education

Expansion of ICT substantially altered media and their relationship with users. This forced a rethink of the foundational assumptions of media education.

January 2025 · last year

Meta ended third-party fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram in the United States

The company <b>replaced professional fact-checking with a crowdsourced Community Notes model</b> similar to X's, citing concerns about bias in the previous system; critics warned the change would weaken one layer of defence against viral misinformation.

• The change did not immediately extend to Meta's operations in the EU and UK

December 2024 · 2 years ago

South Korea's president cited pro-North Korean disinformation threats as one justification for a martial law declaration

The National Assembly voted within hours to reject the decree and it was lifted, while the disinformation justification offered for the move drew scepticism from lawmakers and commentators across the political spectrum.

December 2024 · 2 years ago

Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the first round of the December 2024 presidential election

The court acted after declassified intelligence reports alleged coordinated inauthentic promotion of a previously fringe candidate on TikTok, with Romanian authorities alleging Russian-linked interference, an allegation Moscow denied.

• The annulment prompted a rerun with tightened online-campaigning rules

October 2024 · 2 years ago

Moldovan authorities alleged a large-scale vote-buying and disinformation operation around the October 2024 election and EU referendum

Officials, including President Maia Sandu, described a coordinated scheme involving payments to voters and coordinated messaging on Telegram, which they linked to a fugitive Moldovan businessman and, more broadly, alleged Russian involvement; Moscow rejected the allegations.

September 2024 · 2 years ago

Mumbai's Bombay High Court struck down the government's Fact Check Unit as unconstitutional

The 2023 rule would have let a government body designate online content about official business as false for mandatory removal by platforms; the court found this gave the state excessive power to be the arbiter of truth about itself.

• Independent fact-checking organisations continued operating outside the framework the court struck down

September 2024 · 2 years ago

Brazil's Supreme Court suspended X nationwide for around six weeks

The court acted after the platform failed to comply with orders to block accounts accused of spreading disinformation and to appoint a legal representative in the country, restoring access once the company met the court's conditions.

August 2024 · 2 years ago

The World Health Organization worked to counter misinformation during the 2024 mpox emergency

As the outbreak, centred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring states, was declared a public health emergency of international concern, the organisation worked with regional health bodies and platforms to counter false claims about transmission and vaccination.

2024 · 2 years ago

A Mí No Me La Hacen announced Infodemic: Journalism in Crisis, a media literacy video game

The game, released on Steam, is recognised as the first South American video game specifically designed to teach media and information literacy. It illustrates novel delivery formats for the capability.

2024-2025 · last year

Africa Check, PesaCheck and Dubawa expanded cross-border collaborative verification work

The fact-checking organisations broadened partnerships with newsrooms and platforms across multiple African countries to verify election, health and conflict-related claims, addressing the continent's fragmented and multilingual information environment.

2024-2025 · last year

Singapore continued to apply its Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act

Authorities issued further correction and takedown directions under the law, which supporters credit with limiting the spread of false content and critics argue gives the government excessive discretion over what counts as falsehood.

2024-2025 · last year

Taiwan deepened coordination between civil-society fact-checkers and government agencies

Organisations including the Taiwan FactCheck Center and Cofacts continued working alongside official channels to identify and label content linked to cross-strait information campaigns around local elections.

2021 · 5 years ago

Illinois became the first US state to require a news literacy class

Illinois mandated that high school students take a news literacy course. It set a precedent for compulsory disinformation-resilience education in the United States.

2020 · 6 years ago

A Mí No Me La Hacen was founded to promote fact-checking awareness and digital citizenship

The nonprofit focuses on media literacy, fact-checking and digital citizenship. In 2024 it announced Infodemic: Journalism in Crisis, described as the first South American video game designed to teach media and information literacy.

2017–2020 · 9 years ago

Ukraine entered the standardisation stage of media education

Ukrainian media education moved into a second phase of development and standardisation. This formalised the capability within national education policy.

2017 · 9 years ago

Taiwan introduced a curriculum teaching critical reading of propaganda

From the 2017 school year, Taiwanese children were taught to evaluate sources and analyse propaganda. It is a national response to disinformation embedded in schooling.

2016 · 10 years ago

Finland made the Lycée franco-finlandais concepts the nationwide standard

Media education concepts devised at the Helsinki school were adopted across Finland. This consolidated Finland's top ranking in media literacy efforts.

2016 · 10 years ago

The 2016 US presidential election brought the term fake news into mainstream global use

Concern about fabricated stories circulating on social media prompted platforms, governments and newsrooms worldwide to build dedicated fact-checking and content-labelling systems, many of which became permanent features of the information environment.

2015 · 11 years ago

The European Union established the East StratCom Task Force

The unit, which produces the EUvsDisinfo database, was created to identify and publicise disinformation narratives attributed to Russian state and state-linked media, becoming a model later echoed by similar units in other governments.

• NATO had opened a Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga the previous year

2015 · 11 years ago

The Poynter Institute founded the International Fact-Checking Network

The network set shared standards and a code of principles for fact-checking organisations worldwide, later certifying outlets across dozens of countries and coordinating cross-border collaboration during elections and health emergencies.

June 2013 · 13 years ago

Global Forum for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy convened in Abuja, Nigeria

The forum brought international partners together to promote media and information literacy. It signalled coordinated global institutional support for the capability.

2013 · 13 years ago

Media and Digital Literacy Academy of Beirut (MDLAB) opened as a regional media literacy academy

The Beirut academy was founded to train students as critical media consumers. It extended media literacy capability into the Arab world.

2012 · 14 years ago

US state legislatures passed 22 media literacy bills across 14 states

Since 2012, references to media literacy have grown within America's decentralised education policy, with 22 bills enacted in 14 states. By 2023, 18 states had media literacy standards in K-12 education.

2009 · 17 years ago

Montenegro introduced media literacy as a school subject

Media literacy became an optional subject for 16- and 17-year-old Gymnasium students, making Montenegro one of few countries with media education in its curriculum. It was an early national curricular adoption in the Balkans.