Camden's Digital Literacy Boom Brings Promise and Peril in Equal Measure

Camden is in the midst of a digital literacy gold rush, but some of its most vocal advocates are starting to sound alarms about what happens when people learn to log on without also learning to question what they find.

The push has been relentless. Over the past 18 months, at least a dozen free and low-cost digital skills programs have launched across the city, targeting seniors, low-income families and recent immigrants. They teach everything from email basics to navigating government portals. But according to a report released in June by the Digital Inclusion Coalition, a London-based network that tracks digital equity, nearly half of all new internet users in the UK who received basic training in 2025 could not identify a phishing attempt in a follow-up assessment three months later. The report did not name Camden specifically, but it drew on data from 14 cities including London, Manchester and Birmingham.

The challenge, say local coordinators, is that the curriculum often ends where the real trouble begins.

From Skills to Susceptibility

At the Camden Community Digital Hub on Camden High Street, staff say they have seen a sharp rise in attendees who complete a six-week beginner course only to return weeks later with stories of lost savings or hacked accounts. 'We are creating a population that is digitally active but not digitally critical,' said Maria Okonkwo, the hub's programme director, in a phone interview. 'That combination is dangerous.'

The hub, which operates out of a former bank branch near Mornington Crescent, has enrolled more than 1,100 people since it opened in September 2024. Okonkwo said the curriculum now includes a mandatory two-hour module on disinformation and scam recognition, but funding constraints mean the module is only offered once a month. Demand, she said, outstrips supply by roughly three to one.

The ethical questions extend beyond individual risk. Some participants, particularly those from refugee backgrounds, have reported being targeted by online radicalisation content within weeks of gaining internet access. A case in point: in April, a 68-year-old man from Somalia who had completed a digital literacy class at the Camden Islamic Centre on Bayham Street was found to have been sharing false claims about UK immigration policy on Facebook. The centre's outreach worker later told The Daily Camden the man had 'no idea the information was fabricated' and had believed he was performing a civic duty by distributing it.

'Digital Literacy Is Not Neutral'

Critics argue that the push for universal digital skills, while well-intentioned, often ignores the commercial incentives of the platforms users are being trained to navigate. 'Every click trains an algorithm,' said Dr. Amina Yusuf, a lecturer in media ethics at the University of the Arts London, which runs a satellite programme at the Camden Learning Centre on Pancras Road. 'If we teach people how to use Google but not how Google makes money, we are not really empowering them. We are training them to be better consumers of advertising.'

Yusuf pointed to research from the Oxford Internet Institute, published in March, which found that users who received digital skills training in 2023 were 40 percent more likely to encounter misinformation in the following six months than those who received no training at all, largely because they spent more time online.

None of the advocates contacted by The Daily Camden argued for stopping digital literacy programmes. But several stressed that the city's approach needs to move beyond basic access. 'We are handing people the keys to a city they don't understand,' Okonkwo said. 'They need a map, a guide and a warning about the pickpockets.'

Next month, the Camden Digital Skills Partnership will hold a public consultation at the Swiss Cottage Library to review its 2026-27 training strategy. Organisers say they plan to propose a new 'Ethical Digital Citizenship' module that would run alongside existing courses. Funding for the module has not yet been secured.