The internet in Cyprus 2014, Final Report
Date Issued
December 2015
Author(s)
Stylianou, Stelios
Abstract
Internet use has been rising steadily in both communities in Cyprus over the last few
years. In 2014, roughly two thirds of the total population aged 15 and over in both
communities have been using the internet. The main reasons for not using the internet
were lack of interest and lack of technical knowledge. Almost all Greek-Cypriot users
connect to the internet at home, about three out of four Greek-Cypriot users who are
employed connect to the internet at work and about two thirds of Greek-Cypriot users
who are students do so at school. Among Turkish-Cypriots, almost all users connect to
the internet at home and almost all users also connect from other locations, including
almost all employees who connect at work and almost all students who connect at
school. About one third of Turkish-Cypriot users also connect on the move (vs only
about one eighth of Greek-Cypriot users). The most popular means to connect to the
internet is the computer: more than 90% of users in both communities declared
connecting to the internet this way. About two thirds of Greek-Cypriot users and more
than 90% of Turkish-Cypriot users connect to the internet from their phones. The
upward change in both communities with respect to the use of mobile phones has been
dramatic in the last two years. Tablets and e-readers remain less popular.
The gap in internet use between residents of urban and residents of rural areas
remains visible, yet not very large, in both communities: urbanites use the internet more
than rural residents. The same applies to the gender divide: men connect to the internet
more than women in both communities in all years. Internet use seems to decrease with
age and increase with educational attainment. The use of the internet is also more
prevalent among students, as compared to people who are employed or unemployed,
housewives or househusbands and the retired. An almost linear positive association
occurs in the relationship between income and internet use. The presence of children
under 18 years of age in the household is also positively associated with internet use in
both communities. Internet use differs between members and non-members in various
organizations: more use is observed among Greek-Cypriot members of cultural,
professional, political, environmental and sport or recreation organizations and among
Turkish-Cypriot members of environmental and sport or recreation organizations, while
less use is observed among Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot members of religious
organizations and Turkish-Cypriot members of political organizations.
Clear majorities in all years and in both communities believe that the internet is
an important or very important source of information. Similar results were obtained for
the importance of television as a source of information. Turkish-Cypriots seem to value
newspapers as an important source of information at significantly greater percentages
compared to Greek-Cypriots. Results for the radio as a source of information are similar
to those for newspapers; yet, slight majorities in both communities do believe that this
medium is important or very important in this respect. Respondents in both
communities seem to trust interpersonal sources for information, with clear majorities
reporting that these sources are important or very important. When it comes to
importance as sources of entertainment, the internet and television produced similar results to those about importance for information. Newspapers are generally not
regarded as sources of entertainment. The radio falls somewhere in the middle of the
distance between internet and television at the one end and newspapers at the other.
Among the various social uses of the internet addressed in the questionnaires,
using the internet to maintain relationships with family and with friends are the most
prevalent in both communities. Using the internet to expand professional or
occupational ties is also very popular, especially in the Turkish-Cypriot community. Of
lower prevalence is the use of the internet to meet different people (people from
different occupations, of different social statuses, of different lifestyles or from different
cultures) and to maintain relationships with people with similar political views. The
internet is not a very popular means to connect with political parties, NGOs or public
officials or to join protest or other social movements.
Electronic mail remains the most prevalent online communicative activity,
closely followed by instant messaging, especially in recent years. The prevalence of
internet phone calls has also approached that of the e-mail and instant messaging in
2014, more so in the Turkish-Cypriot community. Also quite popular is posting
messages or comments on discussion boards or forums, as well as posting messages or
comments on social networking sites, posting one's own content and reposting or
sharing links or content posted by others, especially in the Turkish-Cypriot community
in 2014.
Regarding using the internet for obtaining various kinds of information, looking
for news is the most prevalent activity (with the exception of the Turkish-Cypriot
community in 2014). Looking for travel, health and product information remain
relatively popular as well, followed by reading blogs.
With the exception of using online bank services in the Greek-Cypriot community
in all waves and in the Turkish-Cypriot community in 2012 and using the internet to
compare prices of products or services in the Greek-Cypriot community in 2014, the rest
online transactions addressed in the survey (buying things online, making travel
reservations or bookings, paying bills, making online investments and online selling)
remain quite low in frequency.
The most popular entertainment activities on the internet are playing games,
downloading or listening to music, downloading or watching music videos, surfing or
web browsing and visiting social networking sites. Looking for jokes, cartoons or other
humorous content and listening to online radio stations are also quite popular. The
participants reported less frequent use of the internet for looking at religious or
spiritual sites, betting, gambling or entering sweepstakes and for looking at sites with
sexual content.
Regarding using the internet for educational purposes, looking up word
definitions and fact checking are quite prevalent and frequent, especially in the Turkish-
Cypriot community in 2014. Getting information about school-related work is less
prevalent. Distance learning is also quite low in prevalence.
Greek-Cypriot users progressively grow more skeptical about the reliability of
information on the internet. This skepticism is much more acute among Turkish-Cypriot
users in 2014.
Online victimization is generally low among internet users in Cyprus. Very few
respondents reported having had their credit card details stolen via internet use, having
been misled in their online purchases or having been bullied or harassed online in the
past year. One in ten internet users in both communities reports having received
obscene or abusive e-mails and about the same percentage of Greek-Cypriot users has been contacted by someone attempting to extort their bank or personal details.
Accidentally arriving at pornographic content is more common, especially among Greek-
Cypriots. The most frequent type of online victimization is receiving a virus.
Violation of privacy online, a theme explored only in the 2014 survey, is
uncommon among Cypriot internet users and, when it occurred, it was considered a
minor problem. The majority of users in both communities seems to accept as a fact that
privacy is compromised online. A clear majority of Greek-Cypriot users reports being
concerned about violations of privacy by governments, corporations and other users
and this concern is even deeper among Turkish-Cypriots. Most users in both
communities state that they actively protect their privacy online and that they feel that
they can control their privacy.
Attitudes regarding internet-related political efficacy underwent a noticeable
change over time. Most Greek-Cypriot users in 2008 and 2010 state that internet use is
not related to an increase in citizens’ political power, stronger citizen voice regarding
government actions, better understanding of politics and higher responsiveness by
public officials. Fewer respondents shared these pessimistic attitudes in 2012 and 2014.
The opposite trend is observed in the Turkish-Cypriot community in the 2012 and 2014
surveys: pessimistic attitudes regarding the internet’s ability to enhance political
efficacy and the political system’s responsiveness have increased.
The degree of self-reported freedom of political expression among Greek-Cypriot
respondents clearly increased over time. Self-reported freedom of political expression
online also increased from 2010 to 2014, yet most people tend to feel that it is not safe
to openly discuss politics online. A growing majority of the respondents believes that
citizens should be free to criticize their government and to express even extreme ideas
online. Still, about half of the respondents state that the government must intensify the
regulation of the internet. In the Turkish-Cypriot community, respondents express a
significant degree of uncertainty, evident by the quite high percentage of respondents
selecting the option "not sure" in many questions. There is a significant drop in the
percentage of respondents who state that they enjoy freedom of political expression,
from 2012 to 2014, and the same is true for online political expression. At the same
time, there is decreasing support for the idea that citizens should be free to criticize
their government or to openly express their ideas (even if extreme) online.
Respondents in both communities are more skeptical than optimistic regarding
the extent to which one can trust other people. Greek-Cypriots are slightly more
skeptical than Turkish-Cypriots.
Finally, regarding face-to-face socializing, the overwhelming majority of
respondents in both communities spends time with close relatives on a daily basis and
about half of the respondents (slightly more in the Turkish-Cypriot community) meet
other relatives or friends and acquaintances a few times a week. Socializing with
colleagues outside the work environment is not very common for Greek-Cypriots: the
majority engages in such activities never or almost never. Social ties around work seem
to be stronger among Turkish-Cypriots.
years. In 2014, roughly two thirds of the total population aged 15 and over in both
communities have been using the internet. The main reasons for not using the internet
were lack of interest and lack of technical knowledge. Almost all Greek-Cypriot users
connect to the internet at home, about three out of four Greek-Cypriot users who are
employed connect to the internet at work and about two thirds of Greek-Cypriot users
who are students do so at school. Among Turkish-Cypriots, almost all users connect to
the internet at home and almost all users also connect from other locations, including
almost all employees who connect at work and almost all students who connect at
school. About one third of Turkish-Cypriot users also connect on the move (vs only
about one eighth of Greek-Cypriot users). The most popular means to connect to the
internet is the computer: more than 90% of users in both communities declared
connecting to the internet this way. About two thirds of Greek-Cypriot users and more
than 90% of Turkish-Cypriot users connect to the internet from their phones. The
upward change in both communities with respect to the use of mobile phones has been
dramatic in the last two years. Tablets and e-readers remain less popular.
The gap in internet use between residents of urban and residents of rural areas
remains visible, yet not very large, in both communities: urbanites use the internet more
than rural residents. The same applies to the gender divide: men connect to the internet
more than women in both communities in all years. Internet use seems to decrease with
age and increase with educational attainment. The use of the internet is also more
prevalent among students, as compared to people who are employed or unemployed,
housewives or househusbands and the retired. An almost linear positive association
occurs in the relationship between income and internet use. The presence of children
under 18 years of age in the household is also positively associated with internet use in
both communities. Internet use differs between members and non-members in various
organizations: more use is observed among Greek-Cypriot members of cultural,
professional, political, environmental and sport or recreation organizations and among
Turkish-Cypriot members of environmental and sport or recreation organizations, while
less use is observed among Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot members of religious
organizations and Turkish-Cypriot members of political organizations.
Clear majorities in all years and in both communities believe that the internet is
an important or very important source of information. Similar results were obtained for
the importance of television as a source of information. Turkish-Cypriots seem to value
newspapers as an important source of information at significantly greater percentages
compared to Greek-Cypriots. Results for the radio as a source of information are similar
to those for newspapers; yet, slight majorities in both communities do believe that this
medium is important or very important in this respect. Respondents in both
communities seem to trust interpersonal sources for information, with clear majorities
reporting that these sources are important or very important. When it comes to
importance as sources of entertainment, the internet and television produced similar results to those about importance for information. Newspapers are generally not
regarded as sources of entertainment. The radio falls somewhere in the middle of the
distance between internet and television at the one end and newspapers at the other.
Among the various social uses of the internet addressed in the questionnaires,
using the internet to maintain relationships with family and with friends are the most
prevalent in both communities. Using the internet to expand professional or
occupational ties is also very popular, especially in the Turkish-Cypriot community. Of
lower prevalence is the use of the internet to meet different people (people from
different occupations, of different social statuses, of different lifestyles or from different
cultures) and to maintain relationships with people with similar political views. The
internet is not a very popular means to connect with political parties, NGOs or public
officials or to join protest or other social movements.
Electronic mail remains the most prevalent online communicative activity,
closely followed by instant messaging, especially in recent years. The prevalence of
internet phone calls has also approached that of the e-mail and instant messaging in
2014, more so in the Turkish-Cypriot community. Also quite popular is posting
messages or comments on discussion boards or forums, as well as posting messages or
comments on social networking sites, posting one's own content and reposting or
sharing links or content posted by others, especially in the Turkish-Cypriot community
in 2014.
Regarding using the internet for obtaining various kinds of information, looking
for news is the most prevalent activity (with the exception of the Turkish-Cypriot
community in 2014). Looking for travel, health and product information remain
relatively popular as well, followed by reading blogs.
With the exception of using online bank services in the Greek-Cypriot community
in all waves and in the Turkish-Cypriot community in 2012 and using the internet to
compare prices of products or services in the Greek-Cypriot community in 2014, the rest
online transactions addressed in the survey (buying things online, making travel
reservations or bookings, paying bills, making online investments and online selling)
remain quite low in frequency.
The most popular entertainment activities on the internet are playing games,
downloading or listening to music, downloading or watching music videos, surfing or
web browsing and visiting social networking sites. Looking for jokes, cartoons or other
humorous content and listening to online radio stations are also quite popular. The
participants reported less frequent use of the internet for looking at religious or
spiritual sites, betting, gambling or entering sweepstakes and for looking at sites with
sexual content.
Regarding using the internet for educational purposes, looking up word
definitions and fact checking are quite prevalent and frequent, especially in the Turkish-
Cypriot community in 2014. Getting information about school-related work is less
prevalent. Distance learning is also quite low in prevalence.
Greek-Cypriot users progressively grow more skeptical about the reliability of
information on the internet. This skepticism is much more acute among Turkish-Cypriot
users in 2014.
Online victimization is generally low among internet users in Cyprus. Very few
respondents reported having had their credit card details stolen via internet use, having
been misled in their online purchases or having been bullied or harassed online in the
past year. One in ten internet users in both communities reports having received
obscene or abusive e-mails and about the same percentage of Greek-Cypriot users has been contacted by someone attempting to extort their bank or personal details.
Accidentally arriving at pornographic content is more common, especially among Greek-
Cypriots. The most frequent type of online victimization is receiving a virus.
Violation of privacy online, a theme explored only in the 2014 survey, is
uncommon among Cypriot internet users and, when it occurred, it was considered a
minor problem. The majority of users in both communities seems to accept as a fact that
privacy is compromised online. A clear majority of Greek-Cypriot users reports being
concerned about violations of privacy by governments, corporations and other users
and this concern is even deeper among Turkish-Cypriots. Most users in both
communities state that they actively protect their privacy online and that they feel that
they can control their privacy.
Attitudes regarding internet-related political efficacy underwent a noticeable
change over time. Most Greek-Cypriot users in 2008 and 2010 state that internet use is
not related to an increase in citizens’ political power, stronger citizen voice regarding
government actions, better understanding of politics and higher responsiveness by
public officials. Fewer respondents shared these pessimistic attitudes in 2012 and 2014.
The opposite trend is observed in the Turkish-Cypriot community in the 2012 and 2014
surveys: pessimistic attitudes regarding the internet’s ability to enhance political
efficacy and the political system’s responsiveness have increased.
The degree of self-reported freedom of political expression among Greek-Cypriot
respondents clearly increased over time. Self-reported freedom of political expression
online also increased from 2010 to 2014, yet most people tend to feel that it is not safe
to openly discuss politics online. A growing majority of the respondents believes that
citizens should be free to criticize their government and to express even extreme ideas
online. Still, about half of the respondents state that the government must intensify the
regulation of the internet. In the Turkish-Cypriot community, respondents express a
significant degree of uncertainty, evident by the quite high percentage of respondents
selecting the option "not sure" in many questions. There is a significant drop in the
percentage of respondents who state that they enjoy freedom of political expression,
from 2012 to 2014, and the same is true for online political expression. At the same
time, there is decreasing support for the idea that citizens should be free to criticize
their government or to openly express their ideas (even if extreme) online.
Respondents in both communities are more skeptical than optimistic regarding
the extent to which one can trust other people. Greek-Cypriots are slightly more
skeptical than Turkish-Cypriots.
Finally, regarding face-to-face socializing, the overwhelming majority of
respondents in both communities spends time with close relatives on a daily basis and
about half of the respondents (slightly more in the Turkish-Cypriot community) meet
other relatives or friends and acquaintances a few times a week. Socializing with
colleagues outside the work environment is not very common for Greek-Cypriots: the
majority engages in such activities never or almost never. Social ties around work seem
to be stronger among Turkish-Cypriots.
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