Across Slovakia, Czechia, and Türkiye, being online is basically universal. The issue isn't whether young people know how to use the internet, it's the huge gap between the endless amount of information they see and their confidence in figuring out what’s actually true. At the same time, trust in traditional news is dropping fast, making it even harder to know who to believe.
What’s Happening in Each Country?
Slovakia: High Exposure, Low Efficacy
Young adults mostly rely on Instagram and Facebook for news and social information, while TikTok is barely used for this purpose.
They are lagging behind the EU average in using AI tools for personal organization and getting work done.
Trust in the media is facing a severe crisis, with only 23% trust in the news.
While formal political participation like voting is relatively strong, young Slovaks are super skeptical that contacting politicians or taking individual action will actually change anything.
Czechia: Staying Quiet Online
Young adult in Czechia place an exceptionally high value on protecting human rights, democracy and freedom of speech.
They are totally comfortable using AI for studying, research and entertainment.
Even though they understand political talk perfectly fine, they have the lowest rate of online civic or political participation among surveyed EU countries.
There is a highly encouraging gender-specific strength, as young Czech women report one of the highest digital literacy rates in the EU.
Türkiye: High Engagement in a Pressured Environment
Internet use is practically universal among Turkish with a massive shift away from traditional broadcast television toward social media and streaming formats.
Social media serves a deeply dual purpose, acting simultaneously as a hub for entertainment and the primary source for following current events.
They try to check their sources, but over half admit they may have unknowingly shared fake news.
These digital behaviors occur within a highly restrictive media environment, where evaluating source credibility is deeply entangled with political pressures rather than just being a neutral technical skill.
The data gathered in this report serves as the foundation for the next phase of the Mindful Media Mastery project: developing a targeted, freely available toolkit for young people and youth workers. The research clearly indicates that future interventions must move away from generic "screen time" warnings. Instead, efforts must prioritize algorithmic literacy, teach critical evaluation over basic digital skills, and match educational content to the specific platforms that youth actually use for civic engagement.
To explore the data, behavioral patterns, and cross-country comparisons in depth, we invite you to download and read the complete Research Report.
