An EU-funded study found evidence of widespread criminal, dangerous and delinquent behavior among 16-19-year-olds in nine European countries, including the UK. A survey of 8,000 young people found that one in four have stalked or trolled someone online, one in eight have engaged in online harassment, one in 10 have engaged in hate speech or hacking, one in five have engaged in sexting and one in three engage in with digital piracy. It also found that four out of 10 have watched pornography. Julia Davidson, co-author of the research and professor of criminology at the University of East London (UEL), said risky and criminal behavior online had almost been normalized among a generation of European youth. “Research shows that a large proportion of young people in the EU are involved in some form of cybercrime, to the extent that low-level online crime and online risk-taking has almost been normalised,” he said. Risky and criminal behavior among 16-19 year olds – graph Davidson, who led the research with her UEL colleague Professor Mary Aiken, said the research findings indicated greater male involvement in risky or criminal behaviour, with almost three-quarters of men admitting to some form of cybercrime or of online risk-taking, compared to 65% of women. The survey asked young people about 20 types of online behavior, including viewing pornography, posting revenge porn, creating self-created sexual images and posting hate speech. According to the survey findings, just under half of the participants engaged in behavior that would be considered criminal in most jurisdictions, such as piracy, non-consensual sharing of personal images or “muling money” – where someone receives money from a third party and moves into a practice linked to the proceeds of cybercrime. The survey, carried out by a research service with previously used sample groups, found that half of 16 to 19-year-olds spent four to seven hours a day online, with almost four in 10 spending more than eight hours a day. internet day. mainly on phones. It found that the top five platforms among the group were YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat. The nine countries surveyed were the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Romania. The country with the highest rate of what the study calls “cyber deviance” – a mix of criminal and non-criminal but dangerous behavior – was Spain at 75%, followed by Romania, the Netherlands and Germany at around 72%. The UK was down at 58%. Alex Hern’s weekly dive into how technology is shaping our lives Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The study was carried out in collaboration with Europol’s cybercrime centre, an EU body that works with crime actors across the economic bloc and is funded by the EU’s Horizon fund. It calls for greater education of young people and parents about what is potentially harmful and dangerous behavior online. The findings have been published in a framework of landmark online regulations in the EU and the UK. In the UK, the internet safety bill, which returns to parliament next week, will create a number of new criminal offences. They include encouraging self-harm online and sharing fake pornography, meaning images manipulated to look like someone without their consent. Aiken said: “The cyber security bill is potentially groundbreaking and addresses key issues facing every country. It could act as a catalyst to hold the tech industry accountable. The bill sets out a number of key measures to protect children and young people. However, our findings suggest that greater emphasis needs to be placed on accountability and prevention, particularly in the context of youth online offending.” The EU has just passed the Digital Services Act, which requires major online platforms and Google to take action against risks such as cyber violence against women and online harm to children.
