Digital Reach Does Not Prove Digital Trust

A teacher turns a lesson into a short video. A learner explains a research finding on social media. A minister shares a biblical reflection with a dispersed congregation. An institution publishes a public summary generated with artificial intelligence. Each may reach more people in an hour than an earlier generation could address in a month.

Reach is valuable, but it does not prove that the claim was checked, that the audience can distinguish evidence from interpretation, that synthetic material was disclosed, that a vulnerable person was protected, or that commercial and platform pressures did not distort the message. Likes and views measure attention under particular conditions. They do not establish truth, competence or trustworthy ministry.

Digital education now forms publishers as well as learners. The curriculum must therefore prepare people not only to consume information and operate tools, but to carry public influence truthfully, safely and accountably.

On 1 September, UNESCO released Behind the Screens in South Africa, a study of the country's digital content-creator ecosystem conducted by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change. It combines a nationwide survey of forty-eight creators with in-depth interviews involving eleven creators and examines information practices, media and information literacy, ethics, online harms and support needs.

UNESCO reports that only 10.4 percent of surveyed creators had received media and information literacy training, half had no journalism background, 36…