Når børn bliver krænket online: Børn og unges erfaringer med digitale krænkelser og andre ubehagelige oplevelser online 2026

Key Findings

• — 66% of 9-17-year-olds experienced at least one digital violation or other unpleasant online experience in the past year (69% in 2024, 42% in 2021)
• — 77% of children and young people have used an AI chatbot; many describe it as an attractive tool for seeking knowledge and advice
• — 13% use a chatbot as a confidant when they need emotional support, telling it things they find hard to say to others or using it for company when alone
• — Among children who report loneliness, 31% use the chatbot for emotional support
• — 65% of 9-12-year-olds are on a platform whose own age limit they do not meet; 42% use Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat
• — In an average class of 20: 13 experienced a violation, 6 saw violent imagery, 6 were photographed without consent, 1 was subjected to digital abuse (extortion, grooming, intimate-image sharing) and 4 were contacted by an unknown adult

Methodology Notes

Representative survey of 2,142 children and young people aged 9 to 17 plus qualitative interviews with 14 young people aged 13 to 17; third wave (2021, 2024, 2026); part of the Digital Førstehjælp partnership. Fielding agency and exact fieldwork dates are not stated in the release. Verified through the publisher's own press release on Ritzau dated 15 September 2026 06:00 CEST (read in full); the report page on redbarnet.dk returns a Cloudflare challenge to automated fetches and has no Wayback capture, so the report PDF itself was not read.

Sources