2025, Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part D

Legal awareness among students is a critical determinant of civic engagement, rights-claiming behaviour, and compliance with the rule of law. In India where youth constitute a substantial share of the population and digital connectivity is expanding rapidly mass media and social media are increasingly central to how students encounter, interpret, and act on legal information. This paper synthesizes scholarship on media effects, presents a mixed‑methods investigation of Indian students’ legal awareness and media consumption, and proposes an evidence‑informed framework for strengthening legal literacy through educational institutions and policy. Drawing on established communication theories (agenda‑setting, framing, cultivation, uses‑and‑gratifications, knowledge‑gap, social cognitive, diffusion of innovations) and recent Indian policy initiatives (DISHA, Tele‑Law, Nyaya Bandhu, NALSA legal literacy clubs), we examine how media content and delivery channels shape students’ knowledge of key domains: constitutional rights, cyber laws, consumer rights, RTI, gender justice (PoSH), and electoral literacy. Findings indicate a strong association between diversified news use (legacy + digital) and higher legal awareness, tempered by misinformation risks and access inequities. We outline a five‑pillar model Access, Accuracy, Applicability, Agency, and Accountability to guide universities, regulators, and platforms in bridging law-society gaps.