THE PHILIPPINES should prioritize media and information literacy in schools as artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates the spread of disinformation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said. “We must try to mainstream and integrate media and information literacy into the curriculum for young children,” Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa, UNESCO regional director for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste, told a media roundtable on Tuesday. With younger Filipinos relying heavily on social media as their main source of news, Ms. Katsuno-Hayashikawa said media and information literacy has become more complex in the age of AI. UNESCO Program Officer Ana Lomtadze cited the importance of including data privacy in media and information literacy. UNESCO has teamed up with THINKaMuna Pilipinas, the media literacy program of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., to promote critical thinking and digital literacy.