MOSCOW, 13 May 2024. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a monitoring study among Russians devoted to the Internet safety.

Information environment, what is it?

Year by year the Internet is becoming more available: according to VCIOM’s recent data[1], in Russia the share of the everyday users is 76% (vs 47% in 2014). As internet penetration is growing, the web is getting more and more vulnerable due to increased cyber attacks. Not surprisingly, two-thirds of the Russian online users somewhat worry about the safety of their personal data online (68%).

The global internet is also full of unreliable and even dangerous information which may harm users. Today 5 out of 10 Russians perceive the Internet as an uncontrolled environment where there is a lot of unreliable and harmful information (49%). However, 38% hold the opposite opinion: “Internet is a powerful resource of updated and reliable information”: every second resident of Moscow and St Petersburg shares this opinion (50%). Those who support this stance basically come from two younger post-Soviet generations whose growing-up fell on times when the first digital technologies were emerging (Younger Millennials — 54%, Zoomers — 52%).

Since mid-2000s public opinion regarding this topic has undergone substantial changes. Whereas in 2006 and 2008 only 27% viewed the Internet as a dangerous place and the same percentage were undecided (27-28%), in 2021, more than half of respondents started to perceive the global network as an uncontrolled information space (57%, +30 p.p.). This viewpoint is still dominant, although over the recent three years the number of those who support it has slightly decreased (−8 p.p. compared to 2021).

Internet benefits and harms

The role of the Internet is perceived rather ambiguously in the Russian society: every second respondent tends to think that the global network brings us equally positive and negative results (48%). However, over the recent year people have seen more benefits using the Internet (31% in April 2023 vs 36% today; + 5p.p. over the year). Every eight respondent is confident that the Internet is harmful (12%).

Those who defend the Internet are active Internet users; they are more likely than Russians in general to point out benefits (56% vs. 36% in total sample) and to view it as a powerful resource of updated and reliable information (54% vs. 38%). Benefits of the Internet are often highlighted by men (43% vs. 30% of women), respondents with high level of education (46%), residents of cities with a population of 500-900 thousand inhabitants and over (41-55%). Younger Millennials are the only generation — where the share of the Internet optimists prevails: 55% see more benefits, 36% equally benefits and harms, and only 8%, more harms. The share of those who consider that the Internet brings equally positive and negative results is higher among Zoomers and Older Millennials (52% and 48% respectively).

A vast majority of Russians do not perceive the Internet as a source of threats (53% vs 54% in April 2023). Those who think they are protected are largely tech savvy Zoomers and Younger Millennials (65% and 63% respectively), or older cohorts who are newbies and use other sources of information (Stagnation generation — 59%, Thaw generation — 61%). Four out of ten Russians admit, to a varying degree, that the use of the Internet is fraught with peril for them personally and their families (40%).

 VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 26 April, 2024. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ were surveyed. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 26 April, 2024: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7685; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0124; response rate (RR)*** = 0.0766.  calculations are based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

 ** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

*Before 2017, surveys were conducted through household face-to-face interviews (“Express” project); stratified multi-stage quota-based sample; quotas based on socio-demographic parameters, representative of the Russian population aged 18+ by settlement type, sex, gender, education. Sample size, unless otherwise stated, is 1,600 respondents.

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[1] Use of Internet. URL: https://wciom.ru/ratings/polzovanie-internetom.