General perception of safety and communication online, by country (Base: All children 10–16)

These data from the EU Kids Online 2026 comparative study evaluate European children's subjective feelings of safety, their sense of agency, and their comfort with interpersonal interactions in digital spaces. The data offer key insights into how young people perceive their own online environments. The strongest overall sentiment across the 19 surveyed nations is individual protective agency: 62% of European children report knowing what to do if they encounter negative behaviour online, demonstrating widespread self-efficacy regarding basic digital coping mechanisms (e.g. blocking, reporting or ignoring). However, fewer than half of European young people (48%) explicitly report feeling safe online, revealing a 14-percentage-point gap between knowing how to handle negative interactions and actually feeling secure in the digital environment. There are important geographical differences in perceptions of online safety across member states. Subjective feelings of safety are highest in Ireland (73%), Finland (66%), and Norway (66%), but are much lower in Central and Southern Europe. The lowest figures are found in Italy (19%), followed by Poland (31%), Slovakia (33%), Luxembourg (36%), the Czech Republic (36%), and Romania (36%). Regarding online identity expression, digital platforms serve as an important alternative space for self-expression for a significant proportion of young people. Almost a quarter of children (23%) find it easier to be themselves online than in person, and 22% discuss different topics online than in person. Meanwhile, 14% feel 'powerful' online. Nevertheless, intimate self-disclosure remains uncommon, with only 9% of children reporting that they share personal information online that they would avoid discussing in person (this figure falls to just 2% in Ireland). These findings emphasise that children do not view the internet as unmanageable. A clear majority feel they have the basic coping strategies they need. Rather, safety concerns stem from broader issues in the online climate, including low perceived interpersonal kindness and inconsistent platform safeguards.