Tech roundup: How do kids and teenagers use the internet in Brazil?

Welcome to our Tech roundup, with the biggest stories on technology and innovation in Brazil. This week: a new survey shows exactly how kids and teenagers are using the Internet.

Over half of kids and teens only use smartphones for internet

Brazilian children and teenagers are spending more time online and on social media — and using their smartphones to do so. These are some of the main takeaways of the newest edition of a survey by the Regional Center for Studies to the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br).

State of play. The survey indicates that 93 percent of Brazilians between the ages of 9 and 17 are internet users, which means 22.3 million of the country’s children and adolescents are online — 89 percent more than in 2019. This is largely driven by increased proportions in Brazil’s Northeast (from 79 to 92 percent) and rural areas (from 75 to 90 percent).

Digital gap. In 2021, 11.9 million individuals in this age group lived in households with internet access but without computers — and 2.1 million had access to neither. This shows an improving situation when compared to the first year of the Covid pandemic, when 4.8 million had no internet connection.

Mobile-first. The survey also detected that smartphones remain the primary means of connection across a variety of social strata. For 52 percent, the cell phone was the only device used — a condition much more common among middle and low-income classes (up to 78 percent) than among higher income kids and teens (18 percent).

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