Survey: One in five people in Turkey suffer digital violence

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About one in five people in Turkey suffered digital violence at least once, according to a survey by the Common Knowledge and Communication Association (TBİD/CKCA) and KONDA Research company.

With the financial support of the UN Population Fund, the survey was conducted with 3,346 respondents in May.

Platforms where acts of digital violence are most common are Instagram (53 percent), Facebook (35 percent) and Twitter (19 percent), according to the survey.

In terms of the types of digital violence, most people suffer insults, swears and threats, harassment messages and stalking, the survey shows. The most common methods used by people against digital violence are blocking (65 percent) and reporting people within applications (39 percent).

The youth

As for age groups, one in five people in the 15-17 age group and one in three people in the 18-32 age group are subjected to digital violence.

Respondents aged 15-17 stated that they are most exposed to digital violence because of their physical appearance and age, while those aged 18-32 said they are exposed to digital violence because of their gender, political views and physical appearance.

Women

While there are no differences between genders in terms of being subjected to digital violence, there are differences in terms of the type of violence.

Women suffer digital violence mostly because of their gender (52 percent) and physical appearance (21 percent) whereas men are more exposed to digital violence because of their political views (30 percent).

Ethnic identity is also a factor in digital violence with Kurds, Zazas, Arabs and other suffer more digital violence than Turks. (EMK/VK)