2.3 Young People's Responsible and Safe Use of Media and Digital Services

In terms of safety and privacy, there are more risks online than in traditional, editorial media. This includes personal information being spread without consent or being a victim of scams and other unlawful behaviour. There is also a risk of encountering misinformation and disinformation, toxic language and extremism.

The questions in this section look at the various ways young people manage these issues when encountering or experiencing them in an online environment.

Attitudes to Behaviour on Social Media

Many of the young respondents express awareness about responsibility online, both when it comes to following laws and rules and asking for consent before sharing pictures online. A large majority of the 9 to 15 age group in the Nordic countries, on average 58 percent, agree on the statement that you need to ask for permission before tagging family and friends or posting pictures or videos of others on social media. Most respondents (58 percent) also believe it is their own responsibility to ensure that their social media posts follow regulations and the law. Sweden and Denmark show similar results in regard to these statements, as do Norway and Iceland, se graph below.

Young people in the Nordic countries are aware of the right to report posts that violate a social media platform’s term of use, on average 65 percent, about 20 percent have also reported at least one post (see section 2, youth survey).

Most of the respondents show quite strong opinions in this section compared to other sections in the survey; the share of ‘don’t know’-replies is smaller. There are many activities and a continuous discussion in the Nordic countries concerning young people’s online behaviour. The discussion seems to have raised awareness and contributed to stronger opinions among many young people on how to be more responsible online. Most probably however, this result reflects that social media is a familiar place to many in their everyday life.

Figure 2.3.1. Youths’ attitudes to social media behaviour and safety issues by country (percent)

Mean

Sweden: 4,2

Norway: 4,6

Denmark: 4,3

Iceland: 4,4

Mean

Sweden: 4,3

Norway: 4,6

Denmark: 4,3

Iceland: 4,6

Mean

Sweden: 4,1

Norway: 4,3

Denmark: 4,1

Iceland: 3,5

There is, overall, very little difference between 13 to 15 years, and the younger age group, 9- to 12-year-olds, in how they view personal responsibility regarding social media behaviour and safety.

Figure 2.3.4. Youths’ attitudes towards social media behaviour and safety issues by age (percent)

Mean

9–12 yrs: 4,4

13–15 yrs: 4,3

Mean

9–12 yrs: 4,4

13–15 yrs: 4,5

Mean

9–12 yrs: 4,2

13–15 yrs: 4,1

Actions to stay safe online

The most common actions young people had taken to protect online safety and privacy in the past three months were avoiding chatting with strangers online and blocking people, organisations, or companies that made contact.

A relatively large share of the 9 to 15 age group has also changed their personal settings on social media or deleted their browser search history.

Figure 2.3.3. Youths’ actions to protect online safety and privacy by country (percent)

Overall, 13- to 15-year-olds tend to have done more of the listed actions to protect their online safety and privacy in the recent past compared to the younger respondents. The share is especially higher regarding blocking and changing personal settings on social media. Since this age group is more active online, the result could be expected.

There is, however, also a significant share of respondents who have not done any of the listed actions, about one third (29 percent).

Figure 2.3.4. Youths’ actions to protect online safety and privacy by age (percent)

Encountering false information

Most young people in the four Nordic countries have, at some point in the past three months, encountered news reports or information they believed to be false. The share of young people who say they have never seen what they believe to be false information is larger in Iceland compared to the other three Nordic countries, but there is a significant share of uncertainty among the respondents in all four countries, about one in five or one in four.

Figure 2.3.5. Youths’ encounter with false information by country (percent)

Thirteen to 15-year-olds tend to slightly more often encounter news reports or information they believe to be false, compared to 9- to 12-year-olds. A probable cause is the more extensive use of media and social media in the older age group. For the younger respondents, it is also more difficult to know if news or information is false or not.

Figure 2.3.6. Youths’ encounter with false information by age (percent)

The most common action when suspecting that information in an article, post, or news report is false is to ask someone trusted, like a friend or family member. It is also relatively common to perform an online search for further investigation.

Danish and Icelandic respondents are more likely to not take any action, while Swedish and Norwegian respondents often compare it with other trusted media or news sources.

Figure 2.3.7. Youths’ actions to check false information by country (percent)

When encountering something they suspect to be false, both age groups would most commonly ask someone they trust about it. Older youths are more likely than younger ones to search online to investigate further or compare with other media or news services providers they trust. At the same time, a larger share of the 13- to 15-year-old respondents would not do anything at all. The share who replies that they don’t know is higher among 9- to 12-year-olds.

Figure 2.3.8. Youths’ actions to check false information by age (percent)

Only about a fifth of the respondents find it easy or very easy to be able to evaluate whether the information they see online is genuine or false. Differences between countries are mainly due to varying levels of respondents who say they don’t know.

Figure 2.3.9. Youth assessing false information by country (percent)

Mean

Sweden: 2,9

Norway: 2,9

Denmark: 2,7

Iceland: 2,9

Nine to 12-year-olds find it slightly more difficult to tell whether the information they see online is genuine or false, but both age groups have a larger share who find it somewhat or very difficult than the share who find it somewhat or very easy.

Figure 2.3.10. Youth assessing false information by age (percent)

Mean

9–12 yrs: 2,7

13–15 yrs: 2,9

Key insights

Online safety and privacy actions are common, and most young people do something to protect themselves. Most-cited actions in the last 3 months are avoiding chats with strangers and blocking accounts. Many also change privacy settings or delete search history. Still, about one in three Nordic youths have taken no protective action in the last three months.
Age correlates with more safety practices. Thirteen- to 15-year-olds generally take more protective steps than 9–12-year-olds.
False news or information is frequently encountered, but many express uncertainties in this regard. Most young people have seen information they think is false recently ('often' or 'sometimes' in the last three months). However, 21–25 percent answer that they don’t know if they have encountered false information online, indicating difficulty distinguishing true from false. In the younger age group (9–12 years), this proportion rises to 29 percent.
Judging authenticity is hard for most young people. Only one in five respondents find it easy or very easy to tell if information is genuine. Both age groups more frequently report that it is more difficult than easy, but a large portion ends up in the middle of the scale.
Verification of information relies on trustworthy people first, tools second. The top response regarding actions taken to verify is asking someone trusted, followed by online searches, comparing information with trusted news sources, and checking whether the web address looks trustworthy.