This rapid analysis was prepared by UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub for Europe and Central Asia, with data gathered through the involvement of several young activists, youth organizations, experts, and UNDP representatives, including participants in the online survey, online interviews, and online consultation. We would like to thank all those without whose contribution this analysis would not have been possible.

This rapid analysis aims to understand how young civic actors in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA)1 region use digital tools for political and social participation, the topics that they are motivated by, and the opportunities and obstacles they encounter in their digital activism. The goal of the analysis is to serve as a conversation opener and to lead to more in-depth research and dialogue between stakeholders interested in advancing digital youth activism and civic engagement.

Young civic actors in the ECA see the digital realm as positively enabling their direct engagement, improving their outreach, helping gain public support for their causes, and making cross-border connectivity easier. Up to 70% of survey respondents agreed that online activism gave higher visibility to important issues. At the same time, young activists saw digital activism as possible for only a minority of youth: lack of digital skills or internet access, internet restrictions, and a lack of funding to support digital activism were cited as obstacles for the larger cohorts of youth to engage civically online.

An intergenerational gap in the use of the digital sphere means that young civic actors are not able to fully interact with decision-makers and policymakers or public institutions via online platforms. This was seen as a major barrier to effective and impactful digital activism. Online and offline activism were seen by the young activists as strongly complementing each other. Up to 82% of survey respondents stated that online activity needs to be paired up with face-to-face work, while 46% stated that digital civic engagement alone is not efficient enough to produce results.

Digital activists feel particularly exposed to bullying and hate speech. Up to 46% of survey respondents identified online harassment of civic actors as an important obstacle for online youth participation, with 60% of women viewing that their gender impacted how others reacted to their civic views, compared to 31% of male respondents. Privacy and cybersecurity are of concern to young activists: while 60% of survey respondents felt confident using their real name or identity online, up to 57% felt their data was not protected online and that the views they shared could be used against them, while 48% were concerned about data surveillance.

When it comes to information pollution, 85% of respondents viewed that they encountered a lot of disinformation and fake news on social media, with 69% seeing the internet as an important source of polarisation – information pollution and polarisation were also reported as being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, up to 58% of survey respondents reported trusting online sources more than traditional media such as television or newspapers.

COVID-19 has had a strong impact on civic activism, especially offline. Young civic actors saw the pandemic and its restrictions as having a positive impact on digital activism, increasing the importance of online efforts (84% of survey respondents), while the majority also felt that the pandemic had aggravated the digital divide and exclusion of some groups of youth