News | Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society

2 Dec

Cyberspace Conference 2025

On November 28–29, the annual Cyberspace conference took place, focusing on the legal, social, and psychosocial dimensions of online environments. The keynote lecture on sexting and digital intimacy was delivered by Joris Van Ouytsel, Associate Professor at the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. The conference also featured presentations by Ainize Martínez-Soto and Jaroslav Sýkora from IRTIS.

November 2025

Research Workshop: Discussion on (Digital) Well-Being Interventions

How much do smartphones interfere with our everyday lives? Is it even possible to disconnect from the digital world? And what strategies do we need to achieve that? Cynthia Dekker, a researcher from the prestigious University of Amsterdam, came to Brno to discuss these and other questions.

October 2025

Lenka Dědková among Forbes Top Women in Science 2025

How much time do children spend on their phones, and what do parents know about their online social lives? This question is among the key topics researched by Lenka Dědková, who has been included in this year’s Forbes Top Women in Science 2025 list.

October 2025

Blog: MediaPsych Conference 2025

MediaPsych Conference 2025: a venue for discussing the psychological and social dimensions of digital technologies.

8 Sep

Digital well-being of Czech adults: one-fifth are stressed by constant online connectivity

A new report by researchers at Masaryk University presents the first representative data on the digital well-being of the Czech adult population. The results show that technology is indispensable for most people, providing them with inspiration, meaning, and entertainment – but at the same time, it causes stress, distractions, and disrupts sense of control in some people.

July 2025

Blog: The 2025 Meeting of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science

At the end of June, we participated in an international conference in Budapest, where we presented the first results of the Perceived anonymity in computer-mediated communication (PACC) project along with other research activities. Interested in what we presented? Detailed information and the full texts of our talks can be found below!

July 2025

How Do Teens Feel After Sexting? Findings from a Study of 2,500 Czech Adolescents

Sending and receiving sexually explicit messages is more common among teenagers than many might think. A new nationally representative study of Czech adolescents reveals not only how many of them engage in sexting, but also how they feel about it – and why girls often report more negative emotions than boys.

11 Feb

How Do Digital Technologies Affect Adolescents? Insights from 15 Studies on the Impact of Digital Technology on W

As part of Safer Internet Day 2025, the Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS), a member of the EU Kids Online network, presents a new report with key findings from 15 comprehensive studies examining the impact of digital technology use on adolescent wellbeing.

26 Dec 2024

Report: Plus-size hate

A second research report from the project CYBERPLUS has been published: “Plus-size hate: Exploring young Czech people's reactions to cyberhate targeting overweight people”. Read more in the article.

December 2024

Research workshop: New trends in experimental design

With December here and the semester wrapping up, we closed out 2024 by hosting an engaging research workshop on new trends in experimental design. It was a perfect opportunity to dive into cutting-edge methods, spark fresh ideas, and reflect on how innovation continues to drive research forward.

17 Dec 2024

Report: Cyberhate targeting the body

We published a new research report, "Cyberhate targeting the body: Young Czech people’s perceptions of cyberhate that targets weight and physical disability". Read more in the article.

12 Nov 2024

Blog: Body positivity online, body positivity offline? A study on adolescents’ engagement with positive social media content and prosocial behavior

When adolescents engage with social media content promoting body positivity, does it impact their body-positive behavior offline? This question was the focus of our latest published study.

October 2024

Blog: 10th European Communication Conference ECREA

The 10th European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) took place at the end of September in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Many of our team members attended and presented their research. See this page for their full presentations and profiles!

September 2024

Blog: Bias-based cyberaggression related to origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and weight

Bias-based cyberaggression, which includes hateful and prejudiced content shared through digital platforms, is a common experience for young internet users. This kind of online behaviour can have harmful effects on both individuals and society as a whole. We conducted a systematic review of research dealing with young people's experiences, risk and protective factors and consequences of bias-based cyberaggression.

30 May 2024

Cyberspace 2024: Call for papers

Cyberspace 2024 conference held in Brno on the 29th and 30th of November is now open for paper submission. You can send your abstracts by July 31st.

16 May 2024

Do smartphones really cause mental illness among adolescents? Ten problems with Jonathan Haidt’s book

“The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness”, a new book by Jonathan Haidt, quickly found an audience. For www.parenting.digital, Michaela Lebedíková, Michal Tkaczyk, Vojtěch Mýlek and David Smahel share 10 ways in which they disagree with the way Haidt builds his argument based on their own studies of the impact of technology on adolescents’ wellbeing.