The Development of Media Literacy in Chinese Societies: From Grassroots Efforts to Institutional Support

Media literacy (ML) education has been carried out around the world for half a century, but such education only emerged in Chinese societies, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China, in the past two decades. Entering the twenty-first century, Chinese societies witnessed astonishing levels of economic growth and technological advancement. This chapter presents an examination of how ML education developed in the mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It reviews official policies toward ML education and analyzes the similarities and differences in how ML education was implemented in these three Chinese societies. The chapter discusses the driving forces for ML development, agency efforts, and government policies in the digital age through document analysis and interviews with stakeholders. The documents include government official reports, research center reporters, academic research papers, media reports, and non-governmental organisation's resource documents.