New research shows that children are spending more time on the internet than any other media activity for the first time.
Regulator Ofcom asked children who use the web whether at any point in the past year they had seen anything “hateful” directed at a particular group of people based on characteristics such as gender, religion, disability, sexuality or gender identity.
The question asked them to think about examples including posts on social media, comments on news articles and videos on YouTube. Of the 34% who said they had seen hate speech in the last year, 7% said they saw it regularly and 27% said they sometimes saw it.
The survey was conducted in the three months leading up to the end of June, when the UK voted to leave the EU. Ofcom’s head of children’s research Emily Keaney said the finding underlined the need for parents to talk to their children about what they see and do online. You can read more here.