According to the study, one in four young people is a troll

One in four young people is an internet troll. This emerges from a new study by the University of East London and Europol. According to this, around 72 percent of young people in Germany also show criminal or risky behavior on the Internet.

On social media platforms, in blogs or chat rooms – trolls leave provocative comments and disrupt discussions all over the internet. But who is behind it? A study funded by the EU now provides an answer.

Study shows: One in four young people is an Internet troll

As The Guardians reported, risky and criminal online behavior is normal, especially among younger people. This is shown by a survey in which 8,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 19 from nine European countries took part.

Scientists from the University of East London (UEL) examined 20 behaviors on the Internet. This includes, but is not limited to, viewing pornographic material, posting revenge porn, creating and posting sexual images, and posting hate speech.

One in four respondents said they had followed or trolled someone online before. One in eight participants also admitted to having harassed or hacked another person online.

The study also found that four out of ten young people have viewed pornographic material online.

Internet troll: German young people in fourth place in the study

Countries examined in the study include the UK, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Romania and Germany.

Spanish youth showed the highest willingness to take risks online. About 75 percent of young Spaniards admitted to criminal or risky online behavior. In addition, Germany is also rather higher on the list. About 72 percent of adolescents in the Federal Republic are conspicuous on the Internet.

Young males are more delinquent than females

Julia Davidson is a co-author of the study and Professor of Criminology at UEL. In her view, committing petty crimes and taking risks online has almost become the norm among young people in the EU.

The study also shows that males are more likely to exhibit conspicuous behavior than females. Almost three-quarters of the male youth surveyed admitted to some form of cybercrime. For girls and women, the proportion was around 65 percent.

Study on Internet trolls aims to enlighten young people and parents

According to the study, half of 16 to 19 year olds spend around four to seven hours a day online. For four out of ten young people it is even more than eight hours. They mainly use social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat.

The survey was carried out in cooperation with the Cybercrime Center at Europol. The EU body works with crime-fighting agencies across the economic bloc. It is also funded by the European Union’s Horizon Fund.

Europol calls for better education of young people and parents about potentially harmful and risky behavior on the Internet.

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