Research question:

This proposal covers a part of my PhD project titled “Human rights-based approach to critical media literacy: Youth perspectives on human rights in the digital environment.” For the poster proposal, the focus will be on one of the sub-research questions investigated in this dissertation project: “How do youth in Europe consider critical media literacy while engaging with human rights (issues) in the digital environment?”

Existing body of research tends to focus on the skills of youth in the digital environment and to draw conclusions regarding the perceived or actual risks and threats youth face, such as issues related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI), challenges with disinformation, concerns about mental health, issues regarding data privacy among others. From such an angle, youth, to a large extent, are not seen as active and competent individuals, but as “more at risk of the assumed dangers of media exposure and use” (Higdon et al., 2024). This perspective results in a narrow and “alarmist” (Buckingham, 2020) narrative about youth participation and youth’s capabilities in the digital environment and has been criticised by scholars investigating empowering approaches to media education (Third et al., 2014; Livingstone, 2017). This poster proposal, therefore, acknowledges youth as experts (Fleming and Boeck, 2012) and aims to address this gap by actively seeking youth perspectives on critical media literacy (CML) and building the link between human rights and CML from their lived realities.

European dimension: 

The target group of this research is youth from a European youth organisation, aged between 18-29, who are actively engaged in youth work as volunteers in 10 European countries. The selection is based on criteria such as interest in youth rights issues across Europe as well as familiarity with media and media literacy to allow them to act as experts in the field for this research. The rationale for selecting this target group is explained by the fact that youth in Europe appear as among the most connected in comparison to other age groups and regions, making them a particular demographic group, who are among the most affected as well as among the groups that benefit from the digital environment the most.

Theoretical framework:

The research is informed by three theories that speak to each other and considered as complementary in conceptualising human rights in the digital environment. These theories are: 1) Critical media literacy (CML) theory (specifically the conceptual understandings) by Kellner and Share (2019); 2) Ideal requirements for public sphere framework by Dahlberg (2001), which bases its foundation on Jürgen Habermas’ theory (1962; 2023); and 3) digital citizenship framework by Choi (2016).

CML theory guides the research in exploring human rights by focusing on critical consciousness and the agency of individuals in recognising, analysing, engaging and creating media and thus the ‘actions’ of youth. Secondly, the focus on digital environment as a public sphere provides a foundation to discuss youth’s perception on and understanding of democracy and democratic values online. Finally, digital citizenship framework offers a “multidimensional” (Choi, 2016) approach in analysing youth participation online, by focusing on the aspects of ethics, media literacy, critical resistance and participation/engagement (ibid).

Methodology: The PhD research project is informed by a participatory approach and constructed as an exploratory sequential qualitative design. The poster will focus on the Step/Phase 3 of my dissertation project. This phase comes after the systematic literature review (Step 1) and an exploratory qualitative study (art-based workshop) (Step 2) and precedes the final qualitative study (Step 4). This phase is particularly rich in its design and analysis since it is deeply informed by the literature review and exploratory study, the findings of which provide the basis for this study. As a participatory youth research, a youth expert group has been formed and since then the group has been accompanying the research project and acting “as active participants in the research process and knowledge development” (Fleming and Boeck, 2012). This expert group has been involved in the design of the research instrument, recruitment of the interview participants as well as data analysis. Research Instrument: The research instrument for the poster proposal is the interview questionnaire, which has been worked out with and finalised together with the youth expert group, who have been guiding the research cycle. The questionnaire is built upon the three theories mentioned above and aim to generate new knowledge and insights by addressing the gap in literature. The interviews were completed in February 2026 and the data is currently being analysed using thematic analysis by Braun & Clarke (2022). The analysis is being done with the youth expert group, which plays a key role in deepening the interpretation of the findings and therefore ensuring a participatory approach also in the analysis phase.

This phase of the research is expected to be fully completed in 2026: The interviews took place in February 2026, and I am currently working on the data analysis and reporting. The initial findings of the research clearly demonstrate the unique perspectives gathered from youth in Europe and deepens the understanding of human rights (issues) in the digital environment, while connecting it to critical media education. The expected findings of the research revolves around four themes (after the analysis of 22 interviews carried out with youth aged between 18-29 based in 10 European countries, analysed together with the youth expert group within this participatory research): - youth in the digital environment: focusing on the experiences of human rights in participation in the digital environment - human rights in the digital environment: exploring the specific rights most relevant to youth - media and CML: exploring the role of media, being “literate” and the meaning of “critical” - youth participation & public sphere: investigating the perceived understanding of digital environment as a public sphere

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