Safer Internet Day: Better Internet for Kids? A Closer Look at Adolescents’ Experiences with Cyberhate and Online Disinformation

Starting in 2004, Safer Internet Day is now being celebrated in more than 180 countries and territories. It is organized by the Insafe/INHOPE network of Safer Internet Centres in Europe, and supported by the European Commission. Each year, the topics revolve around “the safe and positive use of digital technology, especially among children and young people” (Safer Internet Day 2023).

This year, the initiative reflects on the new European strategy: Better internet for kids (BIK+) that was adopted in May 2022. The strategy aims to ensure that children and adolescents are protected, respected, and empowered online. These core values are very close to our hearts, as you may know from our research on the risks and opportunities online, the impact of technology on adolescents’ well-being, and the investigation of digital skills that might empower adolescents in their technology usage.

Thus, for this edition of Safer Internet Day, we are joining the conversation and reflecting on two topics closely related to better internet for kids: cyberhate and mis- and disinformation. The information presented in this article comes from two reports we published or co-authored in the past year: Cyberhate in Czech families: Adolescents’ experiences and their caregivers’ knowledge and Report on the role of critical information skills in recognizing mis- and disinformation.

The state of cyberhate among Czech adolescents

Cyberhate refers to hateful and biased contents that are expressed online and via information and communication technologies. Our findings are based on data from a representative sample of 3,087 Czech households collected in 2021. Our results show that cyberhate exposure is a common experience for adolescents. They can be exposed to cyberhate by seeing or hearing some online hateful content that does not necessarily attack them or their group. This experience was not frequent because it happened mostly once (12.4%) or a few times (24.4%). However, there are still some adolescents who reported being exposed to cyberhate daily (2.6%) or several times each day (1.4%).

European adolescents’ skills in recognizing mis- and dis- information

The potential danger in the online environment, however, lies not only in people and their behavior towards each other, but also in the information that appears on the internet and how we approach it. Online mis- and dis- information poses a threat to society and individuals, with young people being a group that can be particularly vulnerable to the potential negative consequences of exposure to such false information on the internet and social media. It is therefore important that young people are able to effectively evaluate the veracity of information and critically select appropriate sources. This can be achieved through specific digital skills, which we have decided to explore though a multi-method study about young people’s (12 to 15 years old) skills to cope with online mis- and dis- information in three countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Finland within the ySKILLS project.

The findings from this study suggest that existing news literacy and credibility evaluation interventions seem to be effective, as the participants generally reported correct credibility evaluations in the performance test and showed good knowledge relating to online news credibility during the focus groups. However, there is a need to pay attention to the acquisition of the skills that young people need to recognize less straightforward signals of trustworthiness.

Sources:

• Bedrosova, M., Dufkova, E., Dembytska, N., Gerzicakova, M., & Dedkova, L. (2022). Cyberhate in Czech families: Adolescents’ experiences andtheir caregivers’ knowledge. Brno: Masaryk University.
• Vissenberg, J., Spurava, G., Terčová, N., Morávková, H., Bedrošova, M., Bossens, E., Macháčková, Ha., Kotilainen, S., & d'Haenens, L. (2022). Report on the role of critical information skills in recognising mis- and disinformation. KU Leuven, Leuven: ySKILLS.

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