Lisbon, Sept. 2, 2026 (Lusa) - More than half (52%) of Portuguese children and young people surveyed in a report say they have seen hate speech online at least once in the last year, a proportion that rises to 72% among 16- to 17-year-olds.
According to the report «New uses, new risks? Digital rights of children and young people (aged 9–17)», exposure to hate speech increases significantly with age: around a quarter of children aged between nine and 11 report having encountered this type of content, whilst among 16- to 17-year-olds the figure rises to 72%.
The report considers exposure to hateful messages or comments online to be a key aspect of digital risks, both in terms of their frequency and the associated emotional impact.
The content covered includes hostile messages directed at individuals or social groups based, amongst other characteristics, on gender, ethnic origin, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or disability.
The differences between genders are small when overall exposure is considered, although they emerge by socio-economic status.
Young people from a low socio-economic background report exposure at 45%, those from a moderate background at 56% and those from a high background at 52%.
The report also identifies growing exposure to other potentially harmful user-generated content, which the researchers describe as the emergence of new cognitive and informational risks.
The content analysed includes conspiracy theories, adult pornography, violent or repugnant images, challenges likely to cause serious injury, drug-related content and messages about forms of self-harm.
Regarding conspiracy theories, 37% of respondents reported exposure to this content in the last year. The figure rises to 47% among 16- to 17-year-olds.
The report highlights that a significant proportion of this exposure occurs unintentionally, underscoring the role of platforms and their recommendation systems in the circulation of such content.
According to one of the report's authors, Cristina Ponte, a researcher at NOVA's Institute of Communication (ICNOVA), «all this increased dramatisation of emotions [...] feeds the algorithms; this is all linked to artificial intelligence, something that has intensified significantly in recent times,» she told Lusa.
The findings form part of EU Kids Online 2025, a national inquiry of 2,111 children and young people aged between nine and 17, which analysed internet use, digital skills and literacy, digital rights, risks, and forms of family and school mediation.
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