Singapore is world’s fourth most digitally civil society, but hoaxes, scams at all-time high: Study

• The annual study by Microsoft polled over 16,000 respondents worldwide — including 501 people in Singapore — about their exposure to a variety of online content
• It found that 31 per cent of respondents cited online civility to be worse during the Covid-19 pandemic due to a greater spread of false and misleading information and people taking out their frustrations online
• When it comes to online bullying, the study found that one in three respondents in Singapore, or 34 per cent, had been involved in a bullying incident

SINGAPORE — Netizens in Singapore are becoming increasingly civil towards each other, a study has found, with positive behaviour from teenagers aged between 13 and 16 driving the improvements.

The study, unveiled by tech giant Microsoft on Wednesday (Feb 10), ranked the Republic as the world’s fourth most digitally civil society last year.

The annual study polled over 16,000 respondents worldwide — including 501 people in Singapore — about their exposure to a variety of online content and compiled the responses into a Digital Civility Index (DCI).

A lower DCI score means better online civility.

Singapore’s score last year was 59 per cent, an improvement compared to 63 per cent in 2019, said Microsoft in a media release. 

The study found that 19 per cent of respondents in Singapore said online civility was better during the Covid-19 pandemic, attributed to greater sense of community and people coming together to deal with the crisis.

On the other hand, 31 per cent cited online civility as worse due to a greater spread of false and misleading information and people taking out their frustrations online.

Hoaxes, scams, and frauds were found to be at an all-time high for Singapore’s online users, with 31 per cent of respondents here saying they were exposed to such content, up four percentage points from 2018.

Singaporean teens helped drive the improvements with respondents getting a DCI score of 50 per cent — compared to 57 per cent the year before — while adults achieved a score of 68 per cent, down one percentage point from 2019.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands took top spot as the most digitally civil society with a score of 51 per cent, followed by the United Kingdom with 55 per cent, the United States with 56 per cent, and Taiwan in fifth place with 61 per cent.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The latest instalment of the DCI survey, which has been conducted annually for the past five years, surveyed around 16,000 respondents in 32 locations — including Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam — and was completed from April to May 2020. 

Researchers asked both adults and teenagers about their interactions online and experiences of online risks, among them trolling, unwanted sexting and hate speech.

In Singapore, the top three risks flagged by users included:

• Being contacted by someone who obtained personal details without permission

• Hoaxes, scams and frauds, and 

• Receiving messages that are unkind, unfair or malicious

Fifteen per cent of Singaporeans polled also said they experienced hate speech last year, two percentage points lower than 2019, while 14 per cent said they experienced some form of discrimination, down one percentage point compared to 2019.

When it comes to online bullying, the study found that one in three respondents in Singapore, or 34 per cent, had been involved in a bullying incident, while 20 per cent said they were the target of bullying.

Millennials were found to be hit hardest by online bullying, with 41 per cent saying they experienced an incident last year. 

At work, 15 per cent of adult respondents said they experienced online bullying or harassment, the study found.

Respondents also said they dealt with bullies by blocking or ignoring them, or talking to a friend about the incident. 

More than half of respondents in Singapore (54 per cent) added that they “stood up” for themselves online or “paused before replying” to someone they disagreed with at least once last year.