European Youth Poll: Mass Surveillance

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of the

European Youth Poll

on Mass Surveillance

For more information please contact

Jacob Düringer

Project Manager at the EYP International Office

[email protected]

+49-30-28095146

• 2131213121312131 ParticipantsParticipantsParticipantsParticipants

• From From From From 43434343 European CountriesEuropean CountriesEuropean CountriesEuropean Countries

• Aged Aged Aged Aged 16161616----27 27 27 27

• Poll Conducted Between:Poll Conducted Between:Poll Conducted Between:Poll Conducted Between: September 11September 11September 11September 11thththth ———— 23232323rdrdrdrd, , , , 2013201320132013

This is a project of the European Youth Parliament. The results do not represent the official views of the organisation.

Fight against Terrorism Fight against Terrorism Fight against Terrorism Fight against Terrorism ddddoes not Justify Mass Surveillance, Many Young People Say.oes not Justify Mass Surveillance, Many Young People Say.oes not Justify Mass Surveillance, Many Young People Say.oes not Justify Mass Surveillance, Many Young People Say.

Executive SummaryExecutive SummaryExecutive SummaryExecutive Summary

The recently disclosed mass surveillance programmes of the NSA and other intelligence services are crossing a line. That is at least

the opinion of 62.3% of participants in the recent European Youth Poll. Still, differences in opinions exist between countries: In Sweden

and Germany, less than a fourth of all participants think surveillance is justified by the fight against terrorism, while in Russia and

Ukraine, more than half of all participants speak out in favour of surveillance. 59% of all participants also think they have to restrain

their communication over the Internet, because it is being watched.

The young respondents from all over Europe were not happy with the role of their governments: Only 9.5% think their government is

doing enough to reveal the extent of the mass surveillance programmes. A majority of 58.8% think the European Union should stop

exchanging transaction and flight data with the United States as a result of the disclosures, while 70% believe their country should offer

asylum to whistleblowers like Edward Snowden.

The Poll, which was conducted online by the European Youth Parliament in co-operation with the Stiftung Mercator foundation and with

the help of other youth organisations, was taken by 2131 people aged between 16 and 27 from 43 European countries. The Poll was

open between September 11th and 23rd, 2013.

The European Youth Parliament (EYP)The European Youth Parliament (EYP)The European Youth Parliament (EYP)The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a non-partisan and independent educational organisation active since 1987. Today it is one of

the largest European platforms for political debate, intercultural encounters, political educational work and the exchange of ideas

among young people in Europe. The EYP consists of a network of 36 European associations in which thousands of young people are

active in a voluntary capacity. The European Youth Polls are conducted four times a year. They are open to all young people in Europe,

but the results are not scientifically representative and do not represent the opinions of the European Youth Parliament. In 2012, 15863

young people participated.

A clear majority of over 60% of all

participants does not think mass

surveillance programmes are justified to

fight terrorism. Looking at the results for

individual countries, there is however a clear

divide, with young people from mainly

Eastern European countries being more in

favour of mass surveillance programmes

than those from Western Europe.

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"Mass surveillance programmes targeting the "Mass surveillance programmes targeting the "Mass surveillance programmes targeting the "Mass surveillance programmes targeting the entire population are justified in the fight entire population are justified in the fight entire population are justified in the fight entire population are justified in the fight

against terrorism."against terrorism."against terrorism."against terrorism."

"I disagree" (62,3%)"I disagree" (62,3%)"I disagree" (62,3%)"I disagree" (62,3%)"I agree" (36,9%)"I agree" (36,9%)"I agree" (36,9%)"I agree" (36,9%)

"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"

"I strongly disagree"

"I somewhat disagree"

Answers: “I strongly agree” or “I somewhat agree” (only countries with more than 50 participants).

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Russia Ukraine CzechRepublic

Serbia Turkey Spain Romania Poland All Portugal Greece France Finland Austria Germany Sweden

"Mass surveillance programmes targeting the entire population are "Mass surveillance programmes targeting the entire population are "Mass surveillance programmes targeting the entire population are "Mass surveillance programmes targeting the entire population are justified in the fight against terrorism."justified in the fight against terrorism."justified in the fight against terrorism."justified in the fight against terrorism."

One argument commonly brought forward

against mass surveillance is that it leads

people to restrain their communication as it

might be watched. In our survey, almost

60% of all participants have the feeling their

online communication is being watched and

that they therefore have to restrain their

communication over the web. Still, 40% do

not think they have to restrain their

communication. Especially Russian, Finnish,

Polish and Czech participants disagree with

the statement.

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"I feel like I have to restrain my "I feel like I have to restrain my "I feel like I have to restrain my "I feel like I have to restrain my communication over the Internet because it is communication over the Internet because it is communication over the Internet because it is communication over the Internet because it is

being watched."being watched."being watched."being watched."


"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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Greece Germany Austria Portugal Sweden Turkey Romania Serbia Spain Ukraine All France Poland Finland Russia CzechRepublic

"I feel like I have to restrain my communication over the Internet "I feel like I have to restrain my communication over the Internet "I feel like I have to restrain my communication over the Internet "I feel like I have to restrain my communication over the Internet because it is being watched."because it is being watched."because it is being watched."because it is being watched."

A majority of participants (58%) think that in

the course of the recent disclosures sharing

financial transactions and flight data should

no longer be shared with the United States.

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""""As a reaction to the mass surveillance As a reaction to the mass surveillance As a reaction to the mass surveillance As a reaction to the mass surveillance disclosures, the European Union should stop disclosures, the European Union should stop disclosures, the European Union should stop disclosures, the European Union should stop sharing financial transaction and flight data sharing financial transaction and flight data sharing financial transaction and flight data sharing financial transaction and flight data

with the United States."with the United States."with the United States."with the United States."


"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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Turkey Spain Germany Serbia Austria Russia All Ukraine Sweden CzechRepublic

France Portugal Greece Finland Romania Poland

"As a reaction to the mass surveillance disclosures, the European "As a reaction to the mass surveillance disclosures, the European "As a reaction to the mass surveillance disclosures, the European "As a reaction to the mass surveillance disclosures, the European Union should stop sharing financial transaction and flight data with the Union should stop sharing financial transaction and flight data with the Union should stop sharing financial transaction and flight data with the Union should stop sharing financial transaction and flight data with the

United States."United States."United States."United States."

Some European politicians have

suggested an even stronger backlash

against the United States, namely by

slowing down the negotiations on the

proposed free trade agreement.

Participants of our Poll are split on this

question. Such a move seems very

popular among participants from France,

but less so among Czechs, Polish and

Romanians taking the Poll.

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"The European Union should slow down the "The European Union should slow down the "The European Union should slow down the "The European Union should slow down the negotiations on the proposed EUnegotiations on the proposed EUnegotiations on the proposed EUnegotiations on the proposed EU----US free US free US free US free

trade agreement as a reaction to the trade agreement as a reaction to the trade agreement as a reaction to the trade agreement as a reaction to the disclosures."disclosures."disclosures."disclosures."

"I disagree" (43,5%)"I disagree" (43,5%)"I disagree" (43,5%)"I disagree" (43,5%)"I agree" (48,5 %)"I agree" (48,5 %)"I agree" (48,5 %)"I agree" (48,5 %)

"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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France Greece Austria Germany Turkey Sweden Ukraine Serbia All Portugal Russia Spain Finland Romania Poland CzechRepublic

"The European Union should slow down the negotiations on the "The European Union should slow down the negotiations on the "The European Union should slow down the negotiations on the "The European Union should slow down the negotiations on the proposed EUproposed EUproposed EUproposed EU----US free trade agreement as a reaction to the US free trade agreement as a reaction to the US free trade agreement as a reaction to the US free trade agreement as a reaction to the

disclosures."disclosures."disclosures."disclosures."

Of all questions in this European Youth Poll,

the clearest majority across all countries

believes their governments are not doing

enough to reveal the extent of the mass

surveillance programmes to the public. The

only country that is represented with over

20% approval for the statement is Russia.

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"My government is doing enough to reveal the My government is doing enough to reveal the My government is doing enough to reveal the My government is doing enough to reveal the extent of the mass surveillance programmes extent of the mass surveillance programmes extent of the mass surveillance programmes extent of the mass surveillance programmes

to the public."to the public."to the public."to the public."


"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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Russia Finland Sweden All Turkey France Germany Serbia Ukraine Greece Austria CzechRepublic

Poland Spain Portugal Romania

"My government is doing enough to reveal the extent of the mass My government is doing enough to reveal the extent of the mass My government is doing enough to reveal the extent of the mass My government is doing enough to reveal the extent of the mass surveillance programmes to the public."surveillance programmes to the public."surveillance programmes to the public."surveillance programmes to the public."

Besides the mass surveillance programmes,

the public debate has also centred around

the media publishing secret information and

whether governments have the right to

intervene and stop this from happening. In

our survey, a slim majority spoke out against

government interventions. There is a big

difference between individual countries, with

young people from Ukraine, Russia or

Poland being much more acceptant of

interventions, whereas participants from

Austria, Germany and Sweden are rather

critical.

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"When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes "When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes "When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes "When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes sensitive security information obtained through a sensitive security information obtained through a sensitive security information obtained through a sensitive security information obtained through a

leak, governments should have the right to leak, governments should have the right to leak, governments should have the right to leak, governments should have the right to intervene."intervene."intervene."intervene."


"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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Ukraine Russia Poland CzechRepublic

Serbia Romania Greece Portugal All Turkey France Spain Finland Sweden Germany Austria

"When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes sensitive security "When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes sensitive security "When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes sensitive security "When a newspaper or other media outlet publishes sensitive security information obtained through a leak, governments should have the information obtained through a leak, governments should have the information obtained through a leak, governments should have the information obtained through a leak, governments should have the

right to intervene.right to intervene.right to intervene.right to intervene.

In the debate about who

should be responsible for

keeping our data safe, more

than 60% of young people

believe they carry some

responsibility themselves.

This is only topped by

almost 80% who see their

national government in

charge.

Answers: “My national government” or “International bodies such as the EU, the UN or the Council of Europe” or “Internet companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Internet providers” or “Myself” (only countries with more than 50 participants).

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"Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is kept safe?"kept safe?"kept safe?"kept safe?"

"International "International "International "International companies" companies" companies" companies"

(56,67%)(56,67%)(56,67%)(56,67%)

"My national "My national "My national "My national government" government" government" government"

(78,59%)(78,59%)(78,59%)(78,59%)

"International "International "International "International bodies" bodies" bodies" bodies"

(56,81%)(56,81%)(56,81%)(56,81%)

"Myself" "Myself" "Myself" "Myself" (61,13%)(61,13%)(61,13%)(61,13%)

Answers: “My national government” or “International bodies such as the EU, the UN or the Council of Europe” or “Internet companies like Apple,

Google, Facebook and Internet providers” or “Myself” (only countries with more than 50 participants).

Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is kept safe?"Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is kept safe?"Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is kept safe?"Who should be responsible for ensuring my data is kept safe?"

France

Sweden

Austria

Serbia

Greece

Germany

All

Spain

Finland

Turkey

Ukraine

Romania

Portugal

CZ

Poland

Russia

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International International International International companiescompaniescompaniescompanies

Russia

Czech…

Sweden

Ukraine

Turkey

Romania

Serbia

All

France

Poland

Austria

Portugal

Spain

Germany

Finland

Greece

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International International International International bodiesbodiesbodiesbodies

Russia

Turkey

CZ

Ukraine

Romania

Serbia

Sweden

Portugal

All

Finland

Austria

Spain

France

Poland

Germany

Greece

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My national My national My national My national governmentgovernmentgovernmentgovernment

Sweden

Serbia

Turkey

Spain

Russia

Portugal

Greece

All

Poland

Ukraine

Romania

Austria

Germany

Finland

France

CZ

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MyselfMyselfMyselfMyself

Whistleblower Edward Snowden is

currently granted asylum in Russia. About

two thirds of Russian participants and

70% counting all participants favour this

move. Young participants from Austria,

Sweden, Germany and France would be

even more enthusiastic to grant asylum to

whistleblowers.

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"My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers "My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers "My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers "My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers like Edward Snowden."like Edward Snowden."like Edward Snowden."like Edward Snowden."


"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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Austria Sweden Germany France All Turkey Finland Greece Russia Serbia Portugal Spain Ukraine Romania Czech

Republic

Poland

"My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers like Edward "My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers like Edward "My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers like Edward "My country should offer asylum to whistleblowers like Edward Snowden." Snowden." Snowden." Snowden."

We ask this question about European

integration in each European Youth Polls.

This time, the results have hardly changed

compared to our last Poll in June. Young

participants from France, Spain and

Germany continue to be strong supporters

of more integration, whereas those from

Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic

are more sceptical.

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"Regarding the current overall state of "Regarding the current overall state of "Regarding the current overall state of "Regarding the current overall state of European integration, I think…." European integration, I think…." European integration, I think…." European integration, I think…."

"Integration"Integration"Integration"Integration as as as as today" (15,9% today" (15,9% today" (15,9% today" (15,9% +1+1+1+1)

"More integration" "More integration" "More integration" "More integration" (54,5%,(54,5%,(54,5%,(54,5%, ----0,50,50,50,5))))

"Less integration""Less integration""Less integration""Less integration"(21,88%, (21,88%, (21,88%, (21,88%, +1,23+1,23+1,23+1,23))))

"...there should be more integration (more decisions on the European level)"

"...there should be less integration (more decisionson the national level)"

...integration should stay as it is today


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"Regarding the current overall state of European integration, I think "Regarding the current overall state of European integration, I think "Regarding the current overall state of European integration, I think "Regarding the current overall state of European integration, I think there should be more integration." there should be more integration." there should be more integration." there should be more integration."

There is very little movement also on the

question of accession. Countries currently

outside the EU such as Ukraine, Serbia

and Turkey remain to be strong

supporters of further enlargements,

Finnish and especially French young

participants are mainly against it.

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"Generally, the EU should be enlarged "Generally, the EU should be enlarged "Generally, the EU should be enlarged "Generally, the EU should be enlarged through the accession of more countries."through the accession of more countries."through the accession of more countries."through the accession of more countries."

"I disagree" (40,9%,"I disagree" (40,9%,"I disagree" (40,9%,"I disagree" (40,9%, +1,2+1,2+1,2+1,2))))"I agree" (51,7%, "I agree" (51,7%, "I agree" (51,7%, "I agree" (51,7%, ----0,20,20,20,2))))

"I strongly agree"

"I somewhat agree"




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"Generally, the EU should be enlarged through the accession of more "Generally, the EU should be enlarged through the accession of more "Generally, the EU should be enlarged through the accession of more "Generally, the EU should be enlarged through the accession of more countries." countries." countries." countries."

European Youth Poll: Mass Surveillance

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