Large proportion of young people have encountered hostile messages online

Close to half (49%) of young people in the European Union aged between 16 and 29 years of age have encountered messages online in the past three months that they considered to be hostile or degrading towards groups of people or individuals.

The data from Eurostat found that the percentage of young people that reported seeing such messages was highest in Estonia (69.22%), while Denmark (68.48%), Finland (68.04%), France (65.54%) and Slovakia (65.14%) also boasted high percentages.

By contrast, the lowest percentage of people to encounter such messages was found in Croatia (23.85%), followed by Romania (27.00%), Bulgaria (30.53%), Germany (38.32%) and Latvia (39.62%).

Political and social views

Political or social views were the main reason for such online attacks, the data showed, with 35% of young people across the EU believe that this is why some individuals were targeted. Estonia (60%), Finland (56%) and Denmark (49%) boasted the highest percentage in this case.

The second highest rate of discrimination in the EU was registered for the group ‘sexual orientation (LGBTQI identities)’ at 32%. Estonia had the highest share in this group at 46%, followed by Slovakia and Portugal, both at 44%.

The category ‘racial or ethnic origin’ had the third highest rate of discrimination at 30%. The highest rates for this category were observed in the Netherlands and Portugal, both at 45%, and Estonia at 44%.

Young people that encountered hostile or degrading messages, by EU country (%)

Editor

See Full Bio