A study by the Vodafone Foundation shows that around half of young people have experienced hate speech, bullying or fake news in chats.

Messenger services have become an integral part of everyday life, especially for young people, but problematic content such as bullying, fake news or hate speech can also always be found here.

According to a new study by the Vodafone Foundation Germany, 14 to 24 year olds in Germany use messenger services such as WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram as intensively as social media.

The evaluation within the study shows alarming results:

  • 61 percent have already received fake news via messenger services, 53 percent have observed bullying and 48 percent hate speech
  • The situation is particularly dramatic for girls and young women: 40 percent of them have already been harassed via chats

Intensive use of messenger services

Messenger services such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal have become an integral part of young people's communication. 99 percent are active on such services and use them as intensively as social media.

More than three quarters (76 percent) of 14 to 24 year olds in Germany use Messenger for more than an hour per day to communicate with friends or family, in the context of school, university or work, and for entertainment. 23 percent even use it for more than four hours a day.

However, only a few young people there find out about news or politics. Three quarters of young people (74 percent) prefer social media for these purposes.

Problematic content

Around half of young people primarily come into contact with problematic content via chats: 61 percent have been sent fake news, 53 percent have observed bullying and 48 percent have seen hate speech. One in three 14 to 24 year olds has been insulted, bullied or threatened via chats.

The situation is particularly dramatic for girls and young women: 40 percent of them have already been harassed via messenger - young men (29 percent) are significantly less affected.

At the same time, 40 percent of young people have already officially reported content or other users to platforms - but a third received no response.

These are the results of a survey of 14 to 24 year olds on the use of messenger services commissioned by the Vodafone Foundation.

The hidden spread of disinformation via chats

The majority of young people have already received fake news via messenger services. The structure of the chats means that fake news can spread. can be distributed even more hidden in the feed of social platforms (“Dark Social”).

WhatsApp or chat functions of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram play the largest role: 40 percent of young people have already noticed fake news on them - among users of other messenger services such as Telegram (12 percent), Snapchat (11 percent) or Discord (9 percent) there are significantly fewer.

The senders of false messages on messenger services are primarily acquaintances from school, university or work (50 percent) or people who do not know the young people personally (40 percent). But they also receive fake news from friends (37 percent) or family (27 percent).

“Information sent via chats appears particularly trustworthy. “This makes the spread of disinformation via messenger particularly dangerous for young people,” said Inger Paus, Managing Director of the Vodafone Foundation, commenting on the results. “It has long been underestimated that WhatsApp, Telegram and Co. – just like the social platforms – have a significant influence on the formation of opinions and mental health of young people. We should therefore not leave this field to conspiracy tellers or hate speakers, but should also consciously strengthen political opportunities for media literacy, political opinion formation and youth protection.”

Young people are taking action against problematic content

A positive aspect is that many young people use informal and formal channels to take action against problematic content on messenger services. For example, 40 percent of them have already taken a stand against fake news, offensive or racist content in a chat group.

However, the results of reports on the various platforms are sobering: 40 percent have already officially reported content or other users to platforms. The report was successful in only 40 percent of cases. A third of the young people received no response at all.

methodology

The survey was carried out by the survey institute Infratest dimap Gesellschaft für Trend- und Wahlforschung mbH. The basic population for the survey was German-speaking young people between the ages of 14 and 24 in private households in Germany who use the Internet.

The survey was carried out from September 11th to 28th, 2020 and was designed as an online survey (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing = CAWI). A total of 2,064 young people took part in the study. 2,032 of them use messenger services.

[mk_ad]

You might also be interested in: Many people have already received it: This SMS is a nasty trap!

Source: Press portal


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )