Media Literacy in the Age of Algorithms, Influencers and AI

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary media environments are increasingly structured by algorithmic systems, influencer economies, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI). News production, content circulation, audience engagement, and public knowledge formation are now deeply entangled with recommender systems, data-driven personalization, automated moderation, and generative AI technologies. At the same time, influencers—both human and synthetic—have emerged as powerful cultural and informational intermediaries, shaping visibility, attention, trust, and meaning across platform ecosystems.

In this evolving context, media literacy can no longer be understood solely as the ability to access, analyze, and evaluate media texts, nor as a narrow skill set focused on fact-checking or the identification of misinformation. While verification remains important, it is insufficient for addressing the broader dynamics of persuasion, affect, identity formation, entertainment, lifestyle communication, and ideological framing that increasingly characterize digital media cultures. Media literacy today must therefore encompass critical awareness of algorithmic governance, influencer–audience relations, AI-mediated communication, datafication, and human–machine interaction.

These challenges are increasingly reflected in international policy and governance agendas. UNESCO has positioned Media and Information Literacy (MIL) as a foundational competence for democratic participation in AI-mediated societies, while the European Union has foregrounded transparency, accountability, and human-centred approaches to AI within its emerging regulatory frameworks. Together, these developments underscore the growing expectation that media literacy must address not only misinformation, but also the structural, ethical, and cultural implications of algorithmic and AI-driven communication.

Current debates range from calls to restrict or ban social media use in educational settings, to enhanced parental responsibility, self-regulation and industry regulation, and regulatory or policy interventions addressing AI development and deployment. Across these perspectives, a common concern emerges: media literacy must evolve in response to structural asymmetries of platform power, the opacity of algorithmic systems, and the affective pull of influencer-led communication. It must also account for how AI systems actively participate in shaping cultural norms, media practices, and epistemic authority.

This Special Issue seeks to advance scholarly debate on media literacy as an AI-aware, critical, and adaptive competence, which is essential for navigating contemporary journalism and media environments. It invites contributions that theorize, investigate, and critique how algorithms, influencers, and AI reshape media practices and audiences’ capacities for critical engagement.

We invite submissions from the perspective of journalism, media and communication research or related disciplines that examine, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Media literacy in AI-driven and algorithmically curated environments;
• AI literacy as an extension of media and information literacy (MIL);
• Algorithmic visibility, recommender systems, and the politics of attention;
• Influencers as mediators of information, identity, public discourse, and cultural meaning;
• Audience perceptions, interpretations, and everyday practices of platform engagement;
• Datafication, personalization, and surveillance in digital media ecosystems;
• AI-assisted journalism, automated news production, and emerging circulation practices (e.g., immersive or synthetic journalism);
• Generative AI, deepfakes, and synthetic media—implications for authenticity, trust, and verification;
• Platform governance, AI ethics, transparency, and accountability;
• Youth, education, and critical engagement with influencer- and AI-mediated media;
• Global, cultural, and comparative perspectives on media literacy, AI, and platforms;
• Pedagogical, policy, and regulatory responses to AI-driven media systems.

Prof. Dr. Tao Papaioannou
Prof. Dr. José Manuel Noguera Vivo
Prof. Dr. Miguel Vicente-Mariño
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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