Women report increased online risks but men say it’s improving
Teen girls and women say they were more exposed to online risks in 2021 compared to the previous year while teen boys and men say the situation online has improved. Teen boys and men generally reported being less exposed to online risks than female respondents. Teen boys saw a 5% decrease in trolling and unwanted sexting, and a 3% decrease in hate speech, Microsoft’s annual study Civility, Safety and Interaction Online shows.
Teen girls and women respondents reported being both more exposed to online risks and feeling more severe consequences as a result. Females experienced almost 60% of all risks reported in 2021, an all-time high, and were also more likely to have experienced consequences, worry or pain due to being treated uncivilly.
The report says more frequent use of social media and messaging apps by females could be driving share of risks higher compared to males.
The report comprises 22 countries with respondents being teens aged 13-17 and adults aged 18 -74 with risks measured in a Digital Civility Index (DCI) with the lowest being the best result.
The 2021 global DCI score stands at 65%, which is the best it has been since the survey began in 2016. This is also an improvement of 2% since 2020, despite that respondents think civility online in general was deteriorating one year into the global pandemic.
82% of the countries surveyed reported online civility was net worse during the pandemic. While personal exposure to risks declined, perceptions about the overall state of online civility worsened and increased 5% between 2020 and 2021. In 2020, 24% said the general civility online was bad and by 2021 this had increased to 29%.
Three-quarters agreed that social media companies need to moderate harmful speech online
Nearly 9 out of 10 respondents, across all genders and age groups, stated that there’s a need to better educate people on how to make the digital world safer.
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