China has entered a moderately aging society. Data shows that by the end of 2023, the population aged 60 and above in China will exceed 296 million, of which about 170 million are netizens. With the deepening of the aging of the population, China's digital technology aging transformation has gradually accelerated in recent years. At present, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has completed the aging and barrier free transformation of 1735 websites and apps. This has provided strong support for more elderly people to "touch the net". They can now socialize, learn skills and understand current events through mobile Internet.
While the majority of the elderly enjoy a better digital life, various topics around the elderly's online security often become a hot topic of public opinion. Some are related to the physical and mental health of the elderly, and some are related to the property rights of the elderly. Shopping in the live broadcast room for a long time, staying up late and other novel updates, frequently brushing short videos, chasing short dramas for large amount of recharge, and offering enthusiastic rewards to the anchors... All these phenomena have also made many "silver haired netizens" labeled as "Internet addicts".
Many elderly people are addicted to the Internet for a variety of reasons, among which seeking spiritual solace and exploring new things are important motivations. The rich information, low-cost entertainment, instant interaction, and increasingly accurate push on the mobile Internet also enable the elderly to travel in the Internet with great pleasure. Some people compare the elderly's addiction to the Internet with the minors' addiction to the Internet, but the two situations are completely different. The Law on the Protection of Minors and the Regulations on the Protection of Minors' Networks have clear provisions on anti addiction, while in the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly and other relevant laws and regulations, it is difficult to find relevant provisions on anti addiction. Minors are in the stage of physical and mental development and the shaping of "three outlooks". They also have heavy learning tasks and do not have full civil capacity; Although the elderly face the decline of physical function and energy, they are adults and have a lot of free time.
The addiction of minors to the Internet can be effectively corrected through the combination of coercion and guidance. But for the elderly who are addicted to the Internet, they can't use coercive means naturally. Although there is no need to be overly anxious about this, we can't let it go. Judging from many related infringement cases in the past, the focus of protecting the online safety of the elderly is to protect their property safety.
Whether it's fake "Jin Dong" or online celebrity "scholar", there are also shops that use various routines to "dig holes". Those bad businesses, anchors and even swindlers on the Internet try to attract the elderly, just for "profit". In the face of all kinds of network chaos, it needs the joint efforts of all social parties to safeguard the network rights and interests of the elderly. Whether it is to speed up the relevant legislation, strengthen the whole process supervision, promote industry self-discipline, or promote publicity and education, it should be a part of the topic. And the digital technology adaptation transformation should make more efforts to prevent "fooling", so that the Internet is more secure, and can be more "adaptive to the old".
(Source: Economic Daily Author: Deng Hao, contributed by China Economic Network)
