Advertisement

Online news snubbed by net-phobic French

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Online news snubbed by net-phobic French
Photo: Fred Tanneau/AFP

Only about one in three internet users in France went online to catch the news or read their favourite newspapers in the last three months, the lowest in any EU nation, European Union data showed Tuesday.

Advertisement

Lithuania, with 92 percent, followed by Estonia with 91 percent, had the highest percentages of those using the internet for reading the news, with France well behind at 38 percent, the Eurostat statistics agency said.

The French were also laggards when it came to using social media, with only 40 percent of internet users in France saying they post messages on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Only Czechs were less forthcoming, with just 35 percent of users saying they actively use social media. Portugal topped the category at 75 percent.

Finland was the leader for internet banking with 91 percent of users and for online travel services, at 69 percent.

Overall, sending and receiving e-mails were the most common use of the internet, at 89 percent, followed by finding information at 83 percent. In all, 61 percent of users read online news, 54 percent used internet banking services, 52 percent posted messages to social media and 50 percent used travel services.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also