A major new study by Ofcom about the digital lives of UK residents has found real-world concerns about keeping women safe online.

Findings from the Online Nation report reveal that women are less confident about their online safety than men, more negatively affected by discriminatory, hateful, and trolling content, and feel less able to have a voice and share opinions.

Technology firms that build the sites and apps used by millions have been urged to act now to help keep girls and women safe online.

UK women spend more than a quarter of their time online – around half-an-hour each day more than men. However, for many women, life online is not always a positive experience, data suggested.

Ofcom’s study found that, while most agree that the benefits of being online outweigh the risks, women are considerably less likely than men to agree (63% vs. 71%). Similarly, fewer women are confident about their safety (64% vs. 73% of men).

Female participants in the research said they feel less able to share their opinions and have a ‘voice’ online (42% compared to 48% of men). They also agreed that they are less likely than men to feel free to be themselves online (33% vs. 39%).

Commenting on the research results, Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said: “The message from women who go online is loud and clear. They are less confident about their personal online safety and feel the negative effects of harmful content like trolling more deeply.

“We urge tech companies to take women’s online safety concerns seriously and place people’s safety at the heart of their services. That includes listening to feedback from users when they design their services and the algorithms that serve up content.”

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Ofcom’s report includes detailed research into the harms people encounter online. It finds that, in the last four weeks, women who go online are more likely than men to have seen or experienced negative body, misogynistic and self-harm or suicide content

Results found that, overall, men are more likely than women to have experienced potentially harmful online behaviour or content in the last four weeks (64% vs 60%), but that women are more negatively affected by the harmful content they encounter.

In terms of the impact on women’s mental health, the researcher also found that women aged 18-34 were more likely than any other group to disagree with the statement that “being online has a positive effect on my mental health”.

Almost a quarter (23%) of black women also disagreed with this statement, higher than white women (16%) and Asian women (12%).

Half of adult internet users support further online safety measures, with more women in favour than men (56% vs. 43%). Women also regard the protection of online users as a priority – more so than men (44% vs. 33%).

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