Indians do better on 'digital civility' indicators: survey

Though trolling is becoming a major concern with even MPs raising the issue in the Parliament last week, a global survey has found that India fares better than many other countries on several indicators of 'digital civility'.

Indian cyberworld has less online harassment, hate speeches and less chance of a person experiencing sexual risks or solicitation, says a survey by Microsoft among 500 respondents each in 14 countries. India also has a lower incidence of 'doxing' (searching for and publishing private information without consent).

Interestingly, the survey also reveals that Indian males face more risks in the cyber world, with 64 percent of the respondents reporting an incident compared to 61 percent of females. However females are more concerned about risks with 61 percent tightening privacy controls compared to 50 percent of males, it said.

But India does worse on indicators like 'swatting' (hoax calls to emergency services), has more unwanted contacts, and higher incidence of damage to personal reputation. The survey, published on Internet Safety Day, comes amid a growing concern over uncivilised online behaviour or trolling. The survey says 77 percent of the 500 surveyed Indians reported cyber-bullying, trolling or online harassment. An equal number were concerned about unwanted sexual solicitation, sexting, revenge porn or 'sextortion'.

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It said 63 percent of domestic respondents reported having been exposed to an online risk with 44 percent experiencing their most recent online risk within the past month, which is indicative of higher frequency..