Synthetic realities: Youth media literacy and trust in the age of digital deception

The rise of synthetic media, including deepfakes, AI-generated news, and synthetic images, impacts today’s digital landscape, raising concerns about India’s young population. This study explores their knowledge, perceptions, and critical engagement with synthetic media, focusing on recognition, verification, and response capabilities. Using a mixed-methods approach, combining a sample survey and focus group discussions, findings indicate high awareness but challenges in identifying synthetic media, contributing to trust erosion and misinformation risk. The study underscores the need for platform-specific media literacy programs, mandatory watermarking, and inoculation strategies to foster critical digital reflexivity, addressing ethical and societal implications.