Pupils are being put at risk of falling victim to fake news because the Department for Education “appears to be struggling to anticipate the implications of the technological challenges of the 21st century”, a Lords committee has concluded.

In a new report from the House of Lords select committee on democracy and digital technologies - Digital Technology and the Resurrection of Trust - peers criticise the DfE for its “insufficient” focus on computing education in an era of online misinformation.

The peers say this is all the more important during a pandemic when the internet could spread “spurious medical advice” about Covid-19. 

Related: Tackle fake news by teaching media studies, says report

Quick read: Pupils ‘lack literacy skills to spot fake news’

Opinion: ‘I worry about the depersonalising effect of screens’

“The government’s focus on computing education is insufficient; basic digital skills are not enough to create savvy citizens for the digital era,” the report says.

Teaching pupils to spot fake news

“The Department of Education would appear to be struggling to anticipate the implications of the technological challenges of the 21st century.”

It also quotes citizenship teachers who argue that departmental attempts to “shoehorn” digital literacy into citizenship and relationships education are wrong-headed.

Liz Moorse, from the Association for Citizenship Teaching, is quoted in the report as saying that “the government have made a shambolic mess of the relationships and sex education framework and tried to shoehorn something in that probably does not belong”.

The report notes that digital media literacy is primarily taught in computing, relationships and citizenship education, but that this is failing to equip young people with the knowledge they need to identify misinformation.

“The [government] focus on computer science, rather than critical digital media literacy skills, is important because we received numerous pieces of evidence that suggested insufficient progress had been made on improving digital media literacy in the UK,” the report says.

It adds that one report showed that just 2 per cent of children had the skills needed to critically evaluate news, and that young people do not realise that YouTube does not fact-check its content.

Asked how digital literacy was being taught, schools minister Nick Gibb reportedly told the Lords Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies that the government had set up the National Centre for Computing Education.

The report notes that the government stated it was “taking action to help people attain the digital skills needed to fully participate and thrive in an increasingly digital world” and that this included introducing digital literacy as a core part of the national curriculum, and publishing a media literacy strategy in 2020.

“As yet, no media literacy strategy has been forthcoming. The government also focused on the reformulation of the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of e-safety,” the report says.

The committee states that it heard consistently how “digital media literacy could and should be embedded into most subjects”.

The report criticises the “absence of governmental leadership” on designing digital literacy programmes and accuses the government of “abandoning its role” on the issue. It calls on the DfE to review the school curriculum and says teachers will need support through CPD to achieve this.

Lord Puttnam, chair of the committee, said: “We are living through a time in which trust is collapsing. People no longer have faith that they can rely on information they receive or believe what they are told.

“That is absolutely corrosive for democracy. Part of the reason for this decline in trust is a lack of confidence among the public about how to navigate online and find sources they can rely on.

“The Department for Education focuses too much on digital skills in the context of computing lessons when schools should also be embedding critical digital literacy right across the curriculum.

“In recent months we have seen clear examples of the dangers of misinformation online with the rise of conspiracy theories and spurious medical advice around Covid-19.

“This is the way misinformation can damage an individual’s health. At the same time, we have seen other instances where it is our collective democratic health that’s under threat. This must stop - it is time for the government to get a grip of this issue and that must start by ensuring our digital education is fit for purpose in equipping citizens to be digitally and media literate.”

A spokesperson for the DfE said: “We want to make sure children and young people have access to the tools they need to navigate modern life, including how to identify disinformation and trusted sources, stay safe online, and make the right decisions when engaging with media content.

“That’s why we have already introduced guidance for schools about teaching online safety across the curriculum within new and existing subjects, such as Relationships, Sex and Health Education, Computing and Citizenship.”

Lord Knight of Weymouth, who sits on the Lords committee that compiled the report, also works for the parent company of Tes, Tes Global, as chief education and external officer