Digital Literacy of Islamic Boarding School Students in Facing Religious Misinformation on Social Media

The development of digital technology has brought significant changes in the patterns of access to and dissemination of religious information among Muslim communities. Social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have become new spaces for Islamic boarding school students to acquire religious knowledge, but at the same time, they have opened up opportunities for the spread of misinformation that can undermine the authority of Islamic scholarship. This study aims to explore santri's digital literacy in responding to and filtering religious information circulating on social media. A qualitative approach using a phenomenological study method was used to understand the santri's direct experiences in dealing with digital religious content. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews and observations of the santri's online activities at several Islamic boarding schools in Kediri. Thematic analysis was then conducted to identify the strategies, obstacles, and critical thinking patterns of santri in assessing the accuracy of information. The results of the study show that santri generally have an initial awareness of the dangers of misinformation, but their skills in verifying sources and using digital literacy tools are still limited. The roles of teachers, pesantren culture, and access to authoritative sources have a strong influence on the ability of santri to manage the flow of information. This study emphasises the importance of strengthening Islamic-based digital literacy in the pesantren curriculum as an effort to equip santri to face an increasingly complex information ecosystem. These findings are expected to contribute to the development of Islamic education strategies that are adaptive to the challenges of the digital era and to strengthen information resilience among the young Muslim generation.