According to this Swiss study, sexual harassment of young people via the internet is increasing

Sexual harassment of young people online is on the rise: According to a survey conducted this year by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), almost half have already been sexually harassed online. In 2014 that was still 19 percent.

Three in five girls and one in three boys report receiving unsolicited messages with sexual connotations online. That’s what it says in the James Study 2022 the ZHAW in collaboration with Swisscom, which was published on Thursday. About half of the girls have already been asked by a stranger to send erotic photos of themselves.

How do young people protect themselves?

At the same time, young people are less concerned about data security on the Internet: Only a quarter are concerned about personal information becoming visible online. Also, only 60 percent of young people use privacy settings on social networks.

A problem, according to the research, is that the problem of data protection has become more complex. Where in the past it was mainly about which images may or may not be shared, nowadays subjects such as cookies, algorithms or encryption technologies (for chat and messenger services) play a major role in daily digital life.

However, young people are now more reluctant to post their own messages on social media than they used to be.

Which apps are used?

The most popular smartphone apps among young people (interviewed) are Instagram, Tiktok, WhatsApp, Snapchat and YouTube. In particular, the use of the short video platform Tiktok has increased sharply in recent years.

What is this study?

According to the James study, it maps the leisure and media behavior of young people in Switzerland every two years. James stands for “Youth, Activities, Media – Survey Switzerland”.

For the 2022 edition, information was collected from 1049 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 from the three major language regions (German-speaking Switzerland, Romandy, Ticino).

Sources

(dsc/sda)