Evidence Library
Comprehensive data charts, academic papers, and statistical analysis on the impact of social media on children and adolescents.
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Daily Active Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds by Gender (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on active social media activities, such as messaging and posting content, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday, by gender. Active digital participation is a near-universal behaviour for both genders, with 87% of males and 82% of females engaging in active social media use daily. Notably, a higher percentage of females (18%) report no active usage compared to their male counterparts (13%).
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.
Daily Passive Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on passive social media activities, such as scrolling through feeds or browsing content, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday. The data reveal that passive engagement is a near-universal habit for this demographic, with only 6% of adolescents reporting no usage at all. The majority of students fall into the moderate-to-heavy usage categories, with 39% spending between one and three hours daily on these platforms. 37% of 15-year-olds spend more than three hours per day engaged in passive scrolling. 94% of 15-year-olds are daily participants in passive digital consumption.
Daily Passive Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds by Gender (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on passive social media activities, such as scrolling or browsing, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday, divided by gender. The data reveal that passive consumption is a near-universal behaviour for both genders. Only a small minority of both genders report no passive usage at all. A significant trend emerges in the "high intensity" category: 42% of males spend more than three hours per day passively consuming content, compared to 32% of females.
Daily Use of the Internet Among Young People (16 to 29 Years Old) (2021-2025)
The table shows data on internet access frequency for individuals aged 16 to 29 years old over the years 2021-2025. Data reveals a steady and inexorable climb in the EU-27 average, rising from 95.15% in 2021 to 97.67% in 2025. This indicates that by the midpoint of the decade, daily internet access has become a near-absolute constant for young Europeans.
Digital Governance: Interacting with Public Authorities by Age (2023)
This chart shows the percentage of individuals using the internet for visiting or interacting with public authorities' websites, in 2023, in Europe, United States and United Kingdom. The data shows e-Government engagement ranging from high-saturation levels in the Nordics to significantly lower participation in Eastern Europe. A significant generational trend emerges: while the 25-54 age group typically leads engagement due to administrative requirements, youth (16-24) participation is remarkably inconsistent across borders.
Distribution of Daily Use of Screens During the Day
This chart from the 2026 EU Kids Online report illustrates the temporal rhythms of digital life for 29,169 children across 19 European countries. The data reveal a 'double-peak usage cycle': screen engagement reaches its primary peak in the afternoon after school (80% on average) and a secondary peak in the evening before bedtime (67% on average). While traditional social boundaries such as family dinners remain relatively 'offline' (15% usage), screen use has become a near-universal constant in the morning routines of older adolescents (71% of 15–16-year-olds). A significant trend emerges in the blurring of digital and institutional boundaries among older age groups. While younger children (aged 9–12) report minimal use during the school day, usage among 15–16-year-olds surges to 56% during school breaks and 38% while in class. Furthermore, the data highlight a significant 'sleep displacement' risk: almost half (46%) of 15–16-year-olds remain active after bedtime, with 29% using screens at night.
Enforcement gaps of age assurance in tested digital services
This chart illustrates the discrepancy between the legal policies of digital services and the technical reality, in several apps and websites tested. Although 62% of tested platforms (517 out of 832) explicitly prohibit children under the age of 13 in their terms of service, almost a third, 32% of these (164 out of 517) offer no mechanism to prevent underage access whatsoever. The remaining 68% of the tested platforms use at least one age assurance mechanism, the most commonly employed being: self-declaration, age verification or age estimation. The distribution of these methods is presented in Chart n. 81
Functionalities Linked to Exposure of Harmful Content (11-17years old)
This chart from the Ofcom Children’s Online Safety Tracker 2025 identifies the technical features through which children in the UK (aged 11–17) encounter harmful content. It compares data from before and after the implementation of the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s Children’s Codes. Despite new 'Safety-by-Design' mandates specifically targeting the re-engineering of algorithmic feeds, the data reveal that scrolling on personalised feeds (35%) remains the primary functionality through which young people are exposed to digital harm. A significant trend emerges in the shift towards 'secondary' social spaces. While exposure via feeds remained relatively stable, exposure through platform comments increased significantly, rising from 14% to 21%. This suggests that, although regulators have focused heavily on the 'push' of recommender systems, the 'human layer' of peer-to-peer interaction in comments has become a growing risk vector. Conversely, the data shows a statistically significant decrease in intentional search behaviour, which fell to just 1%, suggesting that new safety duties have been successful in making harmful content harder to find through search queries.
Main Reasons for Social Media Use Among Adolescents
Based on the 2026 Flash Eurobarometer 'Impact of excessive screen time and social media on young people’s mental health' survey of over 23,000 adolescents, this chart identifies the primary and secondary motivations for using social media. The data reveal that entertainment (57% in total) and interpersonal connection (53% in total) are the two main reasons why European youth use social media. While entertainment is the most commonly cited "first" reason (27%), staying in contact with friends and family is a close second, illustrating that social media serves also as essential social infrastructure. Although 40% of adolescents use these platforms to follow influencers or creators, only 29% use them for self-expression or to share their own content. Furthermore, metrics such as receiving likes and followers, are cited as a primary motivator by only 6% of young people.