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Online news engagement is predominantly mediated by algorithmic systems, yet little is known about the extent to which young people understand the influence of algorithms on the news they see and engage with on social media. This article draws on a subset of primary data from a national longitudinal survey of 1064 young Australians aged 8-16, focusing specifically on responses from those aged 12–16 (n = 627) to examine their news practices. Our findings show that while most young people in this age group access news from social media more frequently than through any other medium, only 40 per cent are familiar with the term ‘algorithm’ in the context of digital news. We also find that young people with a higher interest in news are more likely to be aware of how algorithms shape their digital news experience – and take action to influence it. Given these findings, we argue for a stronger integration of algorithmic literacy and news literacy in the design of effective school-based learning opportunities. By bridging these literacies in the classroom, educators and policymakers can better support young people to critically evaluate digital news.
Blakston et al. (Tue,) studied this question.