Evidence Library
Comprehensive data charts, academic papers, and statistical analysis on the impact of social media on children and adolescents.
filtered by Geographical
Children’s hopes and worries about their future with technologies (European Average across 19 countries)
These data from the EU Kids Online 2026 comparative study provide European policymakers with crucial empirical insights into children's attitudes towards emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, state and corporate surveillance, and environmental impact. European youth have a pragmatic yet deeply cautious outlook: they embrace the functional benefits of digital tools but worry about the loss of systemic control, privacy violations, and automated tracking. While a majority of children recognise the clear educational and social benefits of future technologies, such as easier access to knowledge (51%), feeling included and treated fairly when using digital apps (50%), boosted creativity and imagination (37%), and automation freeing workers and students from repetitive tasks (33%), they also harbour significant concerns. However, systemic tech anxieties significantly outweigh optimism. The main concerns are technology advancing beyond human control (41% agree, 17% strongly agree) and environmental degradation caused by tech's demand for resources (41% agree, 16% strongly agree). Furthermore, 40% of children fear unauthorised sharing of their personal data by apps and 36% are concerned about societal disruption caused by deepfakes and fake news, and under one-third of respondents (28%) are afraid of becoming excessively dependent on technology.
Civic & Political Participation: Youth vs. General Population (2025)
The 2025 Eurostat data reveal that the internet has become a vital infrastructure for youth democratic engagement, with 24.33% of EU youth using digital platforms for civic or political participation, outpacing the general population by 4 percentage points. This gap is widest in Slovenia, where nearly half (49.4%) of all young people utilise the internet for political expression (only 33% of the general population do it). Youth high participation rates are found also in Latvia (33%) and Netherlands (36%).
Communication with friends, by country and frequency (10- to 16-year-old children)
This data, taken from the 2026 EU Kids Online comparative study, assesses how often European children (aged 10–16) use the internet to communicate with friends. The data reveals that online communication is no longer an optional recreational activity, but rather the primary means by which European young people maintain peer relationships and social cohesion. On average across the 19 surveyed countries, 78% of young people communicate with friends online daily or almost daily, whereas only 7% report never doing so. This confirms that complete offline peer communication is now an outlier behaviour across Europe. However, the proportion of young people who interact with their peers online daily varies widely, from 93% in Belgium to 61% in Spain, proving that digital youth experiences differ significantly across member states. Northern, Central and Eastern European nations demonstrate the highest levels of daily reliance, with the highest rates being seen in Belgium (93%), Finland (87%), Croatia (86%), Romania (85%) and Austria (84%). In contrast, Southern and Western European nations report lower levels of daily usage alongside higher rates of complete non-use, with the highest rates being seen in Spain (19%), Switzerland (18%), Ireland (17%) and Luxembourg (15%). These findings present policymakers with a 'proportional harm' dilemma: prohibiting social media altogether would cut off the main communication channels for nearly eight out of ten European young people. This would cause immediate social isolation and disruption, particularly in countries where up to 93% of teenagers rely on daily digital contact.
Daily Internet Access of General Population and Youth (16 to 29 Years Old) (2025)
Daily internet connectivity has become a universal constant for European youth, with the 16–29 age group maintaining near-total saturation (97.67% EU average). While total population access varies significantly, the youth demographic remains consistently above 91% across all 37 measured territories. This creates a dramatic generational "Access Gap" in countries like Croatia (+16pp), Bulgaria (+15pp), and Poland (+14pp), where young people are disproportionately more connected than the general public.
Experience and frequency of potentially harmful online content, by country (Base: All children 10–16)
This dataset from the 2026 EU Kids Online comparative study provides European policymakers, who are debating platform regulation and social media restrictions, with critical empirical evidence by mapping children's self-reported annual exposure to seven key categories of harmful content. Across the 19 surveyed nations, exposure to severe risks is widespread: gory or violent images are the most common form of harm (40% on average across Europe), followed closely by content that encourages eating disorders (39%), self-harm (37%), and dangerous viral challenges/dares (36%). Narratives encouraging substance use (33%), adult pornography (27%), and suicide methods (25%) are also seen by substantial minorities of children, demonstrating that the systemic dissemination of risk material by algorithms is the norm rather than the exception. Cross-national disparities highlight significant geographic variation in exposure. Children in Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Malta report the highest exposure rates across almost all categories of harm. For example, 65% of Belgian young people see gory or violent imagery, and 56% see self-harm content. This is compared to 28% and 25%, respectively, in Serbia. Furthermore, extreme risks such as suicide instruction affect 45% of children in Malta and 39% in Belgium, while body image risks are most prevalent in Poland (55%) and the Czech Republic (54%).
Experience and frequency of potentially harmful online content, by country (Base: All children 10–16) - European Average
This dataset from the EU Kids Online 2026 comparative study provides European policymakers with essential baseline information by mapping children's annual self-reported exposure to seven key categories of harmful content. On average across the European Union, exposure to severe risks is strikingly widespread, with gory or violent images (40%) and body image content encouraging extreme thinness (39%) being the main culprits. Self-harm instructions are seen by 37% of children, dangerous challenges and dares are seen by 36%, and substance use narratives are seen by 33%. Furthermore, a significant proportion of European children encounter adult pornography (27%) and explicit suicide methods (25%).
Exposure to Misinformation (2022)
This chart shows the percentage of individuals who have seen untrue or doubtful information or content on internet news sites or social media, in 2022, across 22 European member states, EEA partners (Norway, Iceland), and Switzerland. Reported exposure to misinformation ranges from 34.5% in Greece to a high of 70.7% in the Netherlands. A clear regional trend emerges: Northern European and Nordic nations, including Finland (69.8%), Sweden (64.7%), and the Netherlands (70.7%), report the highest levels of exposure, while Southern European nations, specifically Greece (34.5%) and Italy (37.4%), report significantly lower encounters with doubtful information.
Exposure to Misinformation: Breakdown by Age Group (2022)
This chart shows the percentage of individuals who have seen untrue or doubtful information or content on internet news sites or social media in 2022, disaggregated by age groups (16-24, 25-54/64, and 55/65+) in Europe. The data reveal a stark "generational information gap" within the European digital space, with the youngest demographic (16-24) consistently reporting the highest exposure to doubtful content across every territory. Among this youth group, exposure to misinformation ranges from 41.6% in Greece to a peak of 80.7% in the Netherlands, suggesting that in highly digitised markets, encounter rates with doubtful information are nearly universal for young people.
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.
General perception of safety and communication online, by country (Base: All children 10–16) - European Average
This dataset provides an overview of the average subjective feelings of safety, practical agency and online self-expression among children in Europe. The strongest reported sentiment across the region is personal coping capacity: 62% of European young people say they know what to do if they encounter negative behaviour online. However, fewer than half (48%) explicitly report feeling safe online, revealing a significant discrepancy between knowing how to handle negative interactions and actually feeling secure in digital environments. Furthermore, only 25% believe that other internet users are kind and helpful. In terms of online identity and communication, digital platforms offer an important alternative space for self-expression for a significant proportion of people: 23% find it easier to be themselves online than in person, 22% discuss different topics online, and 14% feel empowered online. Nevertheless, intimate self-disclosure remains limited, with only 9% sharing personal information online that they would avoid discussing in person.