Media Diversity Institute

09/12/2025

Banning under-16s from social media – safeguarding or isolating?

From 10 December, Australia will become the first country to deactivate existing social media accounts for users under 16 and block new ones on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, and YouTube.

The aim is to protect children from online harms. But psychologists, disability advocates and youth groups warn about unintended consequences: sudden disconnection from friends and communities, higher loneliness and anxiety, and real risks for disabled and marginalised young people who rely on online spaces for information, solidarity and visibility.

Two teenagers are already challenging the law in the High Court, arguing it restricts young people’s implied right to freedom of political communication. Other governments, from Malaysia to EU member states, are watching closely as they consider similar measures.

In our latest article, Tanya Sakzewski examines the ban's impact, its target audience, and what might be lost if policy focuses on age limits rather than addressing platform issues.

🔗 Read the full piece and tell us in the comments: if a law like this were proposed where you live, what questions would you ask first?
https://www.media-diversity.org/banning-under-16s-from-social-media-safeguarding-or-isolating/

06/12/2025

At our latest Media Diversity Research Centre (MDRC) Advisory Board meeting, Professor Cherian George shared insights from his new book Fighting Polarisation: Shared Communicative Spaces in Divided Democracies. (Polity)

His research spans projects in 12 countries, encompassing interfaith initiatives, citizens' assemblies, community and public service media. All of them are trying to do one hard thing: bring people into spaces where deep disagreement does not mean stripping others of dignity or equal rights.

In this brief excerpt, he discusses what that means for journalism. The media do not only report division. They can also create room for dialogue if they learn from bridge-building work that is already happening outside the newsroom.

📽 Watch the full MDRC session with Cherian George on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lz1sSS6uX3Y?si=np44ukWIo1flcrx3
📚 Find out more about Fighting Polarisation: https://cheriangeorge.net/fighting-polarisation/

26/11/2025

How has the Black media in the US navigated attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion this year? What has it meant for community reporting and diversity of representation and narratives?
Read the story by Angelo Boccato: https://www.media-diversity.org/trumps-war-on-dei-and-the-challenges-for-black-journalists-in-the-us/

26/11/2025

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25/11/2025

Digital violence is real violence.

One in three women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Online, the picture is just as alarming:
• 38% of women have experienced online violence, and 85% have witnessed it
• Around 90–95% of deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images, and almost all depict women
• 73% of women journalists report online abuse
• Fewer than 40% of countries have laws that protect women from cyberstalking or cyber harassment

This is not “just the internet”. Online abuse follows women into their homes, classrooms, workplaces and feeds. It silences journalists, pushes women out of public life and normalises misogyny for a generation of boys and young men.

Today, as the UN Women’s begin, we are echoing three demands:
• Governments must recognise digital violence in law and enforce it
• Platforms must design for safety, not only engagement and profit
• Media, schools and communities must treat online abuse as real harm, not “drama”

There is for online abuse against women and girls.

📚 Find out more:
European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) “Safe Spaces” campaign: https://eige.europa.eu/newsroom/news/online-violence-real-violence-call-safe-spaces?fbclid=PAVERTVgOScYBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAadBWGx9l5d_cq81QVpzseXXleTphNIBifgQPz2E7TOKEBUobuwkHBtY_qXFqw_aem_pncTGEtTDb_YZGJgtAi3Jg

Ofcom guidance to protect women and girls online in the UK: https://www.digit.fyi/ofcom-tells-big-tech-to-protect-women-and-girls-online/

20/11/2025

On World Children's Day, our latest story examines the role of the media in framing children’s issues in the UK as culture wars. The article focuses on coverage of education reforms and asks whether the media is ignoring the real story and what’s in the best interests of students.
Read the story: https://www.media-diversity.org/why-is-childrens-education-in-the-uk-being-dragged-into-the-culture-wars/

18/11/2025

While attending UNESCOs Global Media and Information Literacy Week in Colombia, MDI Executive Director Milica Pesic met journalist and Universidad de Cartagena professor David Lara Ramos

In this video, he shares how he understands journalism:

🗣 “For me, it is not only about what to communicate. For me, it is most important the way you communicate that.”

He says being a journalist means “to see, to listen, to work with people, to be part of that community, to be part of the context that you are going to narrate.”

Too often, he notes, “we think that if we film something and it can be on the internet, the work is done. And what about the process? What about the context? What about the idea that you really want to transmit?”

He argues that journalists need to “work on that context first… start listening, start talking, start enjoying with the people” before anything else.

Watch the full reflection in the video.

13/11/2025

“While much reporting has focused on humanitarian aid, little attention has been paid to the active role of diaspora and refugee-led media in shaping information access, representation as well as combating hostile narratives and disinformation” - Ivan Kysloshchuk.

Ivan highlights the challenges Ukrainian media in Poland are facing and the changing attitudes to refugees in the country.

Read the story: https://www.media-diversity.org/ukrainian-media-in-poland-supporting-refugees-challenging-hostile-narratives-and-fighting-for-a-future/

10/11/2025

What happens to democracy when local newsrooms shrink or disappear?

In the new Diversity Matters episode, host Tanya Sakzewski speaks with Josh Laporte (Project Manager, Media Diversity Institute Global) about LIMENet – Local Innovation in Media Europe Network.

They explore:
• Why local and community media are under such pressure
• How “news deserts” leave whole communities without trusted information
• What LIMENet is doing in Belgium, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Serbia to support local outlets with grants, mentoring and space to experiment
• Why this isn’t just about funding stories, but about building resilience and sharing practical solutions

🎧 Listen here:

How Do We Save Local News? Inside the LIMENet ProjectLocal and independent media are under pressure everywhere: shrinking revenues, newsroom closures, politi...

03/11/2025

President Trump is warning he could deploy troops to Nigeria to stop alleged mass killings of Christians.

Is the religious community under attack or have media narratives fueled claims of “Christian Genocide”?

Read the article: https://www.media-diversity.org/how-media-narratives-fueled-claims-of-christian-genocide-in-nigeria/

02/11/2025

Today is International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. With Gaza being the deadliest place for journalists in any conflict, we recommend a report examining the impact of the killing of reporters in the Gaza Strip.

🔗https://www.media-diversity.org/journalism-in-peril-the-gaza-genocide-as-a-global-test-of-press-freedom/

01/11/2025

This week we’re looking at who gets visibility, who gets erased, and who pays the price when coverage fails:

AI and platform power after UNESCO MIL Week.
Dementia in the news (and whose reality is missing).
Why wars in some countries dominate headlines while others barely register.
Journalists killed doing their job.
Gen Z protest movements across Africa facing criminalisation.

Swipe for the stories we’re tracking.
Tell us what’s missing, or tag outlets we should be watching.