According to a new survey, China’s younger generations are experiencing a decline in Chinese language proficiency — and they say the internet is largely responsible.

More than 75 percent of the 2,002 people surveyed by the Social Investigation Center of state-owned newspaper China Youth Daily said they felt “increasingly deficient” in their knowledge of Chinese, the news outlet reported Thursday. More than half of respondents under the age of 40 blamed the internet for encouraging “homogenous thinking” that stifles creative expression.

“Although the internet has enriched our vocabulary by creating new lingo and cultural trends, it has also simplified the way we communicate,” Shen Xiaolong, a professor of Chinese language at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the newspaper.

Over 98 percent of China’s youth were connected digitally by the end of 2017, and 72 percent of children under 10 had access to the internet, according to official data. The increased use of electronic gadgets and the prevalence of online gaming have also been blamed for myopia affecting the country’s children and teens. (Image: VCG)