The threat of "trolling" is forcing young people to self-censor, holding back the development of the internet, experts warn as the latest survey highlighting the extent of online abuse.
To coincide with Safer Internet Day, a survey shows that almost a quarter of young people (24 percent) in the U.K. have been the target of online abuse in the last year.
In addition, 82 percent said they had witnessed online hatred, such as seeing offensive or threatening behaviour directed at someone based on their race, religion, gender or sexuality, according to the online survey by ResearchBods of 1500 young people aged 13 to 18.