Britain has had a higher proportion of attempts to visit a website that contained tobacco, drug or alcohol-related content over the past 12 months than 55 other countries, figures suggest.
According to a report by Kaspersky Lab, which analysed the online activities of 80 million personal computers using its parental-control and security software between May 2016 and May 2017, more than a third (37.6 per cent) of children in Britain tried to access a website featuring information on tobacco, drugs or alcohol.
‘Part of teenage culture’
The figure was the highest out of all the countries for which the company holds information. The UK total compares with 31.9 per cent of children in the US and just 3.2 per cent in Egypt. The report suggests that the topics of tobacco, drugs and alcohol are a “part of teenage culture”, while new trends such as vaping have added to children’s interest online.
British children were also the most likely to attempt to access content relating to online gaming, with over a quarter (26.4 per cent) visiting a website to play a computer game.
Meanwhile, children in China were the most likely to try to access websites and software downloads that would allow them to watch and listen to videos and music (18.5 per cent), compared with only 6 per cent in the UK.
