Decades of social science research have shown that people do not always process information carefully. Instead, we are “cognitive misers” who prefer to reduce effortful reasoning by relying on simple mental structures called “heuristics.” This is true even in encounters with misinformation.

This piece proposes digital media and information literacy (DMIL) education as a proactive framework to empower citizens to access, analyze, create, and reflect on the media in order to guarantee freedom of information and expression.

COVID-19 has had disproportionate effects on minority groups. This text draws on research on COVID-19 among ultra-Orthodox Jews to offer a toolkit for policy makers enabling tailored health-related communication.

In response to the challenge of misinformation online, Israel launched a digital media and information literacy (DMIL) education curriculum and made it available for schools nationwide. In its current form, the Israeli DMIL education curriculum is lacking. Policymakers should consider three additional prisms of the challenge, which call for complementary educational responses.