Necva Tastan Sevinc
15 May 2026•Update: 15 May 2026
More than four in 10 internet users in the EU encountered hostile or degrading messages online in 2025, according to data released Friday by Eurostat.
The EU statistics agency said 42.3 percent of internet users across the bloc reported seeing hostile online content targeting specific groups or individuals. The figures were based on data collected from 20 EU member states.
Hungary recorded the highest exposure rate at 60.9 percent, followed by Finland with 56.7 percent and Slovakia with 56.2 percent.
The lowest shares were reported in Latvia at 29.3 percent, Greece at 29.4 percent, Germany at 33.7 percent and Lithuania at 33.8 percent.
According to Eurostat, people targeted because of their political or social views were the most common victims of hostile or degrading online messages, cited by 33.7 percent of respondents.
Messages targeting people based on racial or ethnic origin were reported by 25.5 percent of users, while 23.4 percent said they encountered hostility related to sexual orientation and 22.8 percent cited religion or belief.
Hostile content targeting individuals based on sex accounted for 16.9 percent, followed by disability at 11.5 percent and age at 8.8 percent, the data showed.
The figures are based on the EU survey on the use of information and communication technologies in households and by individuals, covering people aged 16 to 74 who used the internet within three months before the survey.
