Photo: katemangostar
With the amount of cyberbullying and trolling happening on the internet, Malaysians will be glad to know that we’re actually pretty civil and courteous to our fellow online friends.
In the 2020 Digital Civility Index (DCI) report compiled by Microsoft, Malaysia ranked 4th out of the 25 countries as the most civil in its online behaviour.
The survey covered 500 teens and adults in Malaysia, to examine the extent of negative behaviours and online interactions which revealed the level of internet risks they’ve encountered and the impact it had on them.
Some of the common risks that they are exposed to when they’re interacting online include unwanted sexting (25%), online harassment (24%), hoaxes, scams and fraud (20%), hate speech (18%) and trolling (19%).
Photo: Microsoft
These internet risks also cause real harm and damage to netizens online as more than 90% surveyed cited damage to personal reputation and misogyny as painful online risks they’ve experienced, along with sexual solicitation (87%), cyberbullying (86%) and damage to professional reputation (85%).
Photo: Microsoft
According to the report, some topics that instigated these negative responses on the internet include topics on religion, politics, sexual orientation, race and also physical appearance.
Millennials are also the most at-risk group to be experiencing online harassment in their attractions, while most women feel these internet risks are a bigger problem for them in their daily lives.
The survey was conducted in 25 countries around the world, examining people’s attitudes and perceptions about online behaviours and interactions, polling teens and adults about their experiences and encounters with different online risks. Besides Malaysia, The United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany and The United States are amongst top 5 most civil on the internet, while Vietnam, Russia, Colombia, Peru, and South Africa had the lowest rankings in Digital Civility Index.
While this is good news for all Malaysians, let’s keep striving to be better internet users and treat one another how we want to be treated, online or offline!
By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
