Shaping Sustainable Futures on TikTok? Media Literacy, Youth Education and the SDGs

Abstract

Social media platforms such as TikTok, Bilibili and YouTube increasingly shape how young people perceive, imagine and enact sustainable lifestyles. From ‘low-carbon challenges’ to short documentaries, sustainability has become as much a mediated spectacle as an educational practice. This Perspective examines how these platforms simultaneously open new spaces for engagement while reproducing risks of greenwashing, consumerist spectacle and algorithmic distortion. We argue that sustainability education can no longer be confined to schools and curricula but must respond to the realities of platformised learning environments. To address this challenge, we propose the concept of SDG Literacy through Media. Building on, yet extending beyond, traditional media literacy, this framework highlights three interlocking elements: critical discernment of how ‘green’ messages are framed, algorithmic awareness of how platforms curate and monetise visibility, and creative co-production of alternative imaginaries of sustainable futures. By situating literacy within the context of global policy agendas, the framework directly links digital media practices to SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG12 (Responsible Consumption) and SDG13 (Climate Action). The paper contributes by reframing sustainability education as a contested terrain shaped by commercial and algorithmic logics, while offering a multi-level agenda for practice. We call for institutional and policy innovation that integrates critical media literacy into teacher education, curricula and partnerships with NGOs and platforms, enabling young people not only to absorb but also to interrogate and reshape sustainability narratives in the digital age.