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Who faces the most online hate in Europe?

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 327 words · By Inês Trindade Pereira
Social Media Platform Comparison EU Social Trends Online Toxicity
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What to know about Social Media Platform Comparison

Toxic online messages remain widespread in Europe, targeting people based on their politics, race and identity.

Claims checked 8
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Toxic online messages remain widespread in Europe, targeting people based on their politics, race and identity.

Why it matters

Which EU countries face the highest levels of hostile content?

Common ground

In 2025, just under half of internet users across 20 EU countries encountered online messages they considered hostile and degrading towards specific groups or individuals, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/05/27/online-hate-speech-who-faces-the-m…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3
info Single Source 2
verified Verified By Reference 1
cancel Disputed 1
verified Verified 1
verified
Claim 1: “Southern Europe followed a similar trajectory at slightly lower levels, with a rise toward late December that mirrored trends in Western Europe.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim contains general information about zoonoses, drought, and drug situations in 2025, but does not mention online toxicity trends for Southern Europe.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterrane…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Europe is traditionally defined as one of seven continents. Physiographically, it is the northwestern peninsula of the larger landmass known as Eurasia (or the larger Afro-Eurasia); Asia occupies the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Europe
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Islam is the second-largest religion in Europe after Christianity. Although the majority of Muslim communities in Western Europe formed as a result of immigration, there are centuries-old indigenous E…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Europe
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 2: “Meanwhile, Eastern Europe recorded the lowest toxicity levels overall.”
DISPUTED
One source ('Who faces the most online toxicity in Europe?') states Eastern Europe recorded the lowest toxicity levels, but another source ('Quarterly Insights Q1 2025 Report') explicitly states that Northern Europe reported the lowest toxicity.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 ... Meanwhile, Eastern Europe recorded the lowest toxicity levels overall. ... levels of toxicity have remained stable or even decreased. For ...
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/05/27/online-hate-sp…
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 15, 2025 ... Eastern Europe showed steady toxicity levels, fluctuating between 0.11 and 0.16. In contrast, Northern Europe reported the lowest toxicity ...
https://eooh.eu/articles/online-hate-quarterly-insights-bbb9…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 ... Who faces the most online hate in Europe? In 2025, just under half of internet users in 20 EU countries encountered messages online that ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY2EQnNiot1/
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Claim 3: “The highest shares were recorded in Ireland, Hungary, Finland and Slovakia, while the lowest shares were in Latvia, Greece, Germany and Lithuania.”
CORROBORATED
Cybernews and other web results explicitly list Ireland, Hungary, Finland, and Slovakia as having the highest shares, and Latvia as having the lowest.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Several linguistic issues have arisen in relation to the spelling of the words euro and cent in the many languages of the member states of the European Union, as well as in relation to grammar and the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_and_the_euro
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article provides details of international football games played by the Latvia national football team from its reestablishment in 1991 to 2019.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia_national_football_team_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 4: “in 2024, X ended with a score of 0.24, corresponding to a medium toxicity in the EOOH scale - a score difference of 0.01 compared with 2025.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific toxicity scores (0.24) and the EOOH scale are not corroborated by any of the other provided evidence sources, which are general descriptions of X.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — X, formerly known as Twitter, [b] is an American microblogging and social networking service, headquartered in Bastrop, Texas. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the mo…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(social_network)
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web search NEUTRAL — From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, get the full story with all the live commentary. Available on the App Store and Google Play.
https://x.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Welcome to X, your trusted digital town square, where conversations unfold in real time, and the world connects through breaking news, live events, podcasts, and everything in between. Whether you're …
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.an…
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Claim 5: “In the last quarter of 2025, Western Europe consistently recorded the highest levels of online toxicity across Europe, according to the European Observatory of Online Hate.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate reports from the 'Quarterly Insights: Online Hate and Toxicity Trends' (Q1 and Q4 2025) confirm that Western Europe recorded the highest toxicity levels.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Avia Law, a law of 24 June 2020 aimed at combating hateful content on the internet, was a law of France whose initial content was largely challenged by the Constitutional Council, but some provisi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avia_Law_(France)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The counter-jihad movement in France consists of various organisations and individuals such as Riposte Laïque and Republican Resistance, led by Pierre Cassen and Christine Tasin respectively, Observat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-jihad_in_France
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Online hate speech is a type of hate speech that takes place online with the purpose of attacking a person or a group based on their race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, and/…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_hate_speech
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “In 2025, just under half of internet users across 20 EU countries encountered online messages they considered hostile and degrading towards specific groups or individuals, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web sources confirm that Eurostat reported 42.3% (just under half) of internet users across 20 EU countries encountered hostile online content.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Union's economy combines the national economies of the supranational organization's member states. It makes up the majority of the European economy as the second largest economy in the wo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_European_Union
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eurostat, or the European Statistical Office (also DG ESTAT), is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, based in Luxembourg City. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statistical…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostat
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Union (EU) is a supranational union of 27 member states that are party to the EU's founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. They have agreed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_U…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 7: “Among major social media platforms, X was found to be the most toxic, ahead of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the claim is mentioned in the context of the 'Who faces the most online toxicity' article, the other provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia/App Store descriptions of X and does not provide toxicity rankings.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — X, formerly known as Twitter, [b] is an American microblogging and social networking service, headquartered in Bastrop, Texas. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the mo…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(social_network)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 16 hours ago · Download X latest version for Android. X is an open social media platform to let you know and discuss everything happens around the world.
https://apkpure.com/x-formerly-twitter/com.twitter.android
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web search NEUTRAL — From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, get the full story with all the live commentary. Available on the App Store and Google Play.
https://x.com/
verified
Claim 8: “According to a study in the international scientific journal Nature, young men are consistently the most hostile group in online political discussions.”
VERIFIED
A study published in the scientific journal Nature (dated April 3, 2026, in the provided evidence) explicitly states that young men are consistently the most hostile group in online political discussions.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 3, 2026 · 4, reveal most importantly that young men are consistently the most hostile group in online political discussions (Supplementary Table K.1).
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02432-5
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 16, 2024 · Figure 4: Young and middle-aged men are equally hostile in democratic and non- democratic countries. Meanwhile, all other demographic groups ...
https://osf.io/download/spkyz/
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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 26, 2021 · The notion of the hostility gap contends that online political discussions are perceived as more hostile than offline political discussions.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-s…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.