New research: One child per school class contacted online by unknown adult wanting to arrange a physical meeting

One in every five children in Sweden has an adult stranger that follows him/her on social media. Furthermore, one child in every school class – or three percent of the children in the survey – have been asked to meet up by an unknown adult.

Children spend an ever-greater proportion of their time on the Internet and social media. Tele2 commissioned Novus to undertake research in order to get a better picture of the everyday Internet experiences children in Sweden and the Baltics have, what they encounter online and the rules they have at home regarding their Internet usage.

The research finds that one in every five children in Sweden has an unknown adult that follows them on social media and that on average one child per school class – or three percent of children – have been asked to physically meet by an unknown adult. One in ten children have also chatted with an unknown adult on social media. As well as coming in to contact with unknown adults, children are frequently in contact with things they view as “unpleasant or nasty”. Six in ten children responded that they have seen things on the Internet that they think are “scary or disgusting”.

“This research report highlights the risks and vulnerabilities of children in the wake of their rapidly growing Internet usage. At Tele2, our view is that we need to take advantage of the opportunities offered by connectivity, while at the same time working actively to make life online as safe as possible for our children. As internet service providers, we have a key role to play in this context,” says Viktor Wallström, Vice President, Group Communications at Tele2 and board member at Wonsa, World of No Sexual Abuse.

To address this issue, Tele2’s efforts include the blocking of Internet sites containing child sexual abuse content based on a list provided by Interpol. Every minute, Tele2 blocks on average 11 Internet pages. This corresponds to a little more than half a million pages each month in the eight countries in which Tele2 operates. On top of blocking Internet sites, Tele2 implements a detection function, something that can be done by all employers and means that all computers within the company are scanned to detect child sexual abuse content. Tele2 also seeks to contribute to an increased understanding of children’s Internet habits. A robust discussion about our children’s behaviour online is an important starting point in the efforts to strengthen children’s and young people’s safety online.

The full research report is available here.

For more information, please contact:
Angelica Gustafsson, Head of Public Relations, Tele2 AB, Phone: +46 704 26 41 42
Erik Strandin Pers, Head of Investor Relations, Tele2 AB, Phone: +46 733 41 41 88

TELE2’S MISSION IS TO FEARLESSLY LIBERATE PEOPLE TO LIVE A MORE CONNECTED LIFE. We believe the connected life is a better life, and so our aim is to make connectivity increasingly accessible to our customers, no matter where or when they need it. Ever since Jan Stenbeck founded the company in 1993, it has been a tough challenger to the former government monopolies and other established providers. Tele2 offers mobile services, fixed broadband and telephony, data network services, content services and global IoT solutions. Every day our 17 million customers across 9 countries enjoy a fast and wireless experience through our award winning networks. Tele2 has been listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm since 1996. In 2016, Tele2 had net sales of SEK 28 billion and reported an operating profit (EBITDA) of SEK 5.3 billion. For definitions of measures, please see the last pages of the Annual Report 2016. Follow @Tele2group on Twitter for the latest updates.