How does Information Pollution Challenge Children’s Right to Information Access?

Abstract

Informed by existing literature, in addition to lessons learned from ongoing research work pertaining to online information seeking, in this contribution, we discuss our view of how information pollution affects a critical yet understudied user group: children. We first highlight the need to take into account the unique characteristics of children’s search context, which can be defined in terms of various factors, from children’s age, abilities, skills, and cognitive development to the fuzzy line separating learning and fun. We then describe the importance of good design in assisting children in the different roles they play as searchers so that they can recognize and distinguish harmful and helpful content. Lastly, we discuss guidelines for effectively engaging teachers, parents, and children in the design, introduction, and use of search tools to support young users not only in accessing the information available online but also taking advantage of and learning safely from it. The focus on children not only helps us move forward to help a target group but, more importantly, it is a great starting point for further investigating a broad range of information pollution issues.