Sweden

In brief

Sweden was not involved in EU Kids Online 2020. Main results on this page draw on the 2010 survey, with more recent publications under “Publications.”

Children’s access to and use of online material and services has increased in Sweden since the EUKO 2010 study. The age for online debut has advanced, even among toddlers, and the hours spent online on an average day is now well over three among teens according to the Swedish Media Council semi-annual statistics. The high penetration of smart phones, broadband and mobile online connections, in combination with an increasingly digitalized school environment are other factors of importance to the digital infrastructure in Sweden. This gives opportunities for communication, learning and different forms of expressions and online explorations, but it can also increase the risks for cyberbullying, grooming, and confrontation with unwanted material. The Swedish results in EUKO 2010 showed that girls are more exposed to risk but also that many children in Sweden have adults and friends around them that they can talk to about their life online.

In 2018/2019 the Swedish EUKO-team is preparing for a follow up study to EUKO 2010. The EUKO questionnaire will be complemented with questions on additional themes such as cyber hate, e-health and digital citizenship.

Sweden - EU Kids Online Sweden - EU Kids Online

Highlights

  • The results from EU Kids Online Sweden 2010 have received widespread media attention raising awareness and creating a space for dialogue between shareholders.
  • The main impact and importance of the EU Kids Online project for both researchers and stakeholders in Sweden have been the findings on risks and harm for Swedish children compared to the average European child.

Reports and resources

Factsheet

Summary of findings

Recommendations

Safety guide

Questionnaires

The EU Kids Online fieldwork involved several questionnaires. First, a face to face interview with one parent. Second, a face to face interview with the child. Then a self-completion interview for sensitive questions, with one version for 9-10 year olds and one version for 11-16 year olds.

Questionnaire for parent

Questionnaire for child

Self-completion questionnaire for child (Children age 9-10)

Self-completion questionnaire for child (Children age 11-16)

Publications

Cecilia von Feilitzen, Olle Findahl & Elza Dunkels (2011) Hur farligt är internet? Resultat från den svenska delen av den europeiska undersökningen EU Kids Online  (How dangerous is the internet? Findings from the Swedish part of the European project EU Kids Online) The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media, Nordicom, Göteborgs universitet (46 pp.) (research report, in Swedish), http://www.nordicom.gu.se/clearinghouse.php?portal=publ&main=info_publ2.php&ex=342&me=3

Cecilia von Feilitzen, Olle Findahl & Elza Dunkels (2011) "Vad nytt om barn och internet i Sverige? Resultat från den europeiska undersökningen EU Kids Online" ("What's New about Children and the Internet in Sweden? Findings from the European project EU Kids Online"), Nordicom-Information, årg 33, nr 4, pp. 71-79 (article in a scientific journal, in Swedish), http://www.nordicom.gu.se/?portal=publ&main=info_publ2.php&ex=344&me=7

Olle Findahl, Elza Dunkels & Cecilia von Feilitzen (2013) Med egna ord. Barn och deras föräldrar om vad som kan vara obehagligt på internet. (In Their Own Words. Swedish children and their parents on what can be bothering on the internet). 
The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media, Nordicom, Göteborgs universitet (30 pp., research report in Swedish).

Olle Findahl, Elza Dunkels och Cecilia von Feilitzen (2013) Med egna ord. Barn och deras föräldrar om vad som kan vara obehagligt på internet [Children and their parents on what may be bothering on the internet]. The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media, Nordicom, Göteborgs universitet (30 s) http://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publikationer/med-egna-ord

Svensson, Johanna. (2014). Skandinaviska barn använder nätet mer och möter fler risker [Scandinavian children use the internet more and encounter more risks]. Retrieved from: http://www.mah.se/Nyheter/Nyheter-2014/Skandinaviska-barn-anvander-natet-mer-och-moter-fler-risker/ 

Sjöberg, U. (2014) 'Children and Media: New Challenges Call for Interdisciplinary and Comparative Approaches ', Acta Paediatrica. To be puplished autumn 2014. To be puplished autumn 2014.

Team

Maarit Jaakkola

Maarit Jaakkola, PhD, Associate Professor, Media Researcher and Co-Director at the Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research NORDICOM. Jaakkola's research interests are located at the intersection of media, culture and learning, including questions related to media and information as well as cultural production. Recently, Jaakkola has been studying ordinary citizens' cultural engagement and cultural critique, the pedagogy and structures of Nordic journalism education, and cultural journalism.

Linus Andersson

Linus Andersson, Phd. Senior Lecturer, Halmstad University

Andersson has among other areas researched alternative media, art and television, media waste, and online radicalization. Currently he is doing work on media literacy, community studies and well being.

Karl Dahlstrand

Karl Dahlstrand, PhD. Sernior Lecturer, Universty of Lund, Sociology of Law, teaches criminology and the sociology of law. Karl's current research is about defamation on the net, in particular within social media, from a victimological perspective member of the research team Cybernorms (cybernormer.se) and LUii (Lund University Internet Institute). Although acts of violation online have appeared to increase, the way in which people measure these violations, compared to those in a non-digital context, is still very uncertain. 

Michael Forsman

Michael Forsman, Associate professor, Media and communication Studies, School of Communication and Learning, Södertörn University, Stockholm. Coordinator of the Swedish team. Has published extensively on Swedish broadcasting history, popular culture, youth and media, media and Information literacy, and children and social Media. Currently he is engaged in a research project on Media Citizenship and the Mediatization of School as well as with work on Media and information literacy within teacher education. 

Helena Sandberg

Helena Sandberg, Associate professor and Senior lecturer, Department of Communication and media, Lund University; Professor in Media and Communication Studies, Halmstad University, School of Health and Welfare. Member of the  COST Action IS1410, The Multimodal and Digital Practices of Young Children (DIGILITEY), and WG1: ‘Young children's digital literacy and multimodal practices in homes and communities’. Group leader and PI of several projects on children advertising and internet (cai@lu.se), and digital media and everyday life, funded by the Swedish Research Council (Dnr 2010-1982, 2018-01261). Currently leading DIGIKIDS Sweden, a four year project on children, 0-3 years old, and their digital practices in a family context.

Ulrika-Sjoberg

Ulrika Sjöberg, Associate professor,in Media and Communication Studies. My main research interests involve young people’s media use and media literacy. I am currently working with the project 'Crisis Communication with Children' (funded by The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency). Most recent publications include, for instance, ‘It's not about facts - It's about framing. The App generation's information-seeking tactics: proactive online crisis communication' (Journal of Contingencies and Crisis management). Representing Sweden in the international research network DigiLitEY - The digital literacy and multimodal of young Children (digilitey.eu).

Contact

Maarit Jaakkola
PhD, Associate Professor
Co-Director, Centre for Nordic Media Research Nordicom
University of Gothenburg
SE 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
E-mail: maarit.jaakkola@gu.se
Web: http://nordicom.gu.se