Johannesburg, 6 February – Last year, Microsoft’s Digital Civility Index (DCI), which measures consumers’ lifetime exposure to online risks, found that South Africa was one of the worst performing countries, when it comes to the level of civility across various online interactions. In fact, SA placed 14th out of the 14 countries surveyed. Now, the latest DCI has expanded the number of countries studies to 23 and unfortunately, once again, South Africans are more at risk than other global Internet users of having online encounters of the uncivilised kind.
The 2017 Civility, Safety and Interaction Online study examines the extent of negative behaviours and online interactions and their consequences. The results are based on interviews with teens aged 13-17 and adults aged 18-74. The scope of research has increased to encompass 23 countries, which is nine more than last year along with an expanded amount of online risks (now 20).
South Africa ranked 22nd out of 23 countries for exposure to online risks. When it comes to the intrusive risks category, two new risks were added, with Hoaxes, Scams & Frauds (44%) as well as Misogyny (5%) raising the country’s risk profile in this category. Despite a decline in unwanted online contact, South Africa still had the third highest rate of unwanted contact among all countries surveyed.
In terms of the behavioural category, risks in this category held steady year on year, thanks to a four-point decline in the risk of being treated mean online. A new risk added to this category is microaggression (14%), which involves casual insults towards any marginalised group in society, which for SA is slightly above the global average.
In terms of the sexual category, around one in three respondents experienced a sexual risk driven by unwanted sexting received or sent (31%), but this is unchanged since 2016. When it comes to the reputational risks category, there was no change year on year, with doxing – collecting and posting information about a user without their permission – again counting as one of the biggest risks in this category along with damage to personal reputation.
Not a case of stranger danger
Although many believe online risks are facilitated by the anonymity provided by the Internet, these experiences often involve people that the respondents know personally. For South Africans they occur with family or friends (21%) compared to 17% globally.
Moreover, of those who had met their perpetrator, more than 80% have met before the risk occurred. Nearly 77% suffered at least one negative consequence from online risks, with less trusting of people online and offline being the most common.
Encouraging signs revealed by the survey is that South African respondents were 14 points higher on standing up for themselves online, while they were rated nine points higher on pausing before replying to something that they disagreed with.
Nearly 58% said they were very confident in managing online risks, which is 12 points above the global average (46%) and third overall behind Hungary (76%) and the US (60%).
Millennials and women more at risk
Millennials (ages 18-34) had the highest levels of risk exposure as measured by DCI (84%). However, they also were found to be less likely than other age groups to treat others with respect and dignity, respect other people’s point of view or stand up for other people.
When it comes to women, all forms of harassment were higher for females than males. The largest gaps were found to be in total harassment (F – 72%, M – 59%), unwanted contact (F – 60%, M – 49%) and unwanted sexting (F – 35%, M – 27%).
In addition, the consequences from online risks affected females at a higher rate than males. For instance, females scored 15 points higher on “lost trust in other people online”, while life also became more stressful for them (9 points higher than males).
“Through technology trends such as cloud computing, mobility, big data analytics and IoT, the Internet is enabling an unprecedented opportunity for organisations and people to do more and achieve more. However, as with any technology, the Internet can also be exploited by the likes of hackers, online predators, and Internet bullies for their own nefarious ends,” says Kethan Parbhoo, Chief Marketing and Operations Officer at Microsoft South Africa.
“For all of us to reap the benefits of living in a digital culture, civil society and the business community must educate the next generation and enable them to become more civil while online or offline, and ultimately help make the larger South African society a more civil one,” Parbhoo concludes.
