Investigating the Internet in Greece: Findings from the World Internet Project

The present study aims to offer a comprehensive presentation of the empirical results of the third wave of the World Internet Project (WIP) nation-wide survey in Greece, which was conducted from the 12th of April to the 23th of May 2019. It involves the main findings of this research wave and explores the development of internet penetration among the Greek population by providing comparative data on several aspects of the respondents’ internet related behavior between all three WIP waves (2015, 2017, 2019). These aspects pertain to digital use, access and divides, online activities and social capital, internet reliability and fake news, online victimization and privacy, political efficacy and freedom of expression. Data were collected by 1,208 interviews over the phone on a structured questionnaire (based on WIP guidelines and included some additional national questions of theoretical interest) and manually transferred to an online platform using RM+ software and then to statistical analysis software. The paper also offers descriptive presentations of the results analyses as well as charts including mostly relative frequencies and, in some cases, variable means. The relative frequencies and means are included in the charts in order to allow the reader to have a clear overview of the exact percentages. The results depict Greece as a digitally vulnerable society, with strong internal antinomies, which are in tandem with internet’s radical ambivalence in general.LSE Hellenic Observatory Discussion Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe, No. 15