Authors

Discussion

Ukrainian population remains the primary target for Russian disinformation campaigns and psychological warfare (Hoskins & Shchelin, 2023). With that, the impact of Russian disinformation is sometimes exaggerated (Erlich & Garner, 2021). The Russian‐Ukrainian war is a digitally networked war on an unprecedented scale, shaped continuously through personalized information feeds across multiple platforms (Hoskins & Shchelin, 2023). In digitized and hyperconnected conflict zones, digital media literacy becomes a crucial skill for citizens. When relatively controllable and contained mainstream media ecologies break down, audiences need to keep up with an increasingly complex information environment, where a wide range of actors are networking immediately and continuously (Boichak & Hoskins, 2022). The orientation problem during a violent conflict is exacerbated by propaganda and misinformation that promote fear and distrust in official information and mainstream news sources (Pasitselska, 2022). The Ukrainian hybrid media environment’s unique characteristics, along with propaganda, confusion, and censorship in times of war, present a constellation of media literacy challenges for Ukrainian citizens. While the need for orientation and digital media literacy exists among all age groups, older adults can be especially vulnerable to digital exclusion and its negative consequences. Some existing research points to older people’s lack of ability to understand, analyze, and evaluate media content, including news on social media platforms (Allen et al., 2020) and algorithmic news curation (Zarouali et al., 2021). However, we lack comprehensive research on older adults’ media literacy (Rasi et al., 2021) to draw any substantial conclusions about the vulnerability of older adults in a disrupted information environment. While we have some understanding of the audiences’ fact‐checking practices and media perceptions in a conflicting environment (Fiedler & Kovats, 2017), we need more research on older adults’ media literacy needs in such contexts. This study explores existing media literacy practices, skills, and perceived needs of older adults during war in the digital age. Taking a user‐centric approach, it draws on eight focus groups and descriptive data from the national survey (n=1186) with Ukrainian older adults (60+) across the country. An inductive‐qualitative analysis identifies three main factors that shape digital practices and dictate the literacy needs of Ukrainian older adults: (a) (lack of) access, grounded in material infrastructure and social ties; (b) self‐(in)efficacy that often stems from pre‐convictions about one’s agency and position in society; and (c) resilience that becomes crucial in the situation of continuous exposure to (mediated) violence. This research contributes to the understanding of the media literacy needs of older adults and lays the foundation for developing digital literacy study programs in conflict zones.