The percentage of internet users in Cyprus who in 2025 were confronted with online messages that they considered hostile or derogatory towards specific groups of people or individuals stood at 38.98%.
According to data published on Friday by Eurostat, the percentage of Cyprus remains below the EU average and shows little change compared to 2023, when it was recorded at 38.45%.
At the European Union level, 42.3% of internet users were confronted in 2025 with similar hostile or derogatory messages. It is noted that the EU average is based on data from 20 countries for which data were available. Compared to 2023, there is a significant increase as the corresponding percentage had risen to 36.57%.
Eurostat points out that in seven EU member states, more than half of citizens said they had encountered hostile online messages. The highest rates were recorded in Hungary (60.9%), Finland (56.7%) and Slovakia (56.2%).
In contrast, the lowest rates were recorded in Latvia (29.3%), Greece (29.4%), Germany (33.7%) and Lithuania (33.8%).
According to Eurostat, the hostile and derogatory messages targeted different groups or characteristics. More specifically, 33.7% of users reported targeting due to political or social opinions, 25.5% due to racial or ethnic origin, 23.4% due to sexual orientation and 22.8% due to religion or belief.
At the same time, messages were reported that targeted people based on gender (16.9%), disability (11.5%), age (8.8%) or other personal characteristics (8.5%).
