Perhaps it is a child lacking media literacy, according to articles in Chinese youth newspapers and magazines: Online violence behind the "mask" | Internet | Media
Online violence is a fanatical and blindly following behavior that utilizes the power of online public opinion to engage in indiscriminate personal attacks on others. Compared to the physical harm caused by traditional violence, online violence mainly causes negative psychological effects on victims through online verbal attacks, spreading rumors, human flesh searches, malicious defamation, and other forms.
The occurrence of cyber violence is certainly related to the technical characteristics of the Internet, but the root cause of the problem lies in every "outspoken" individual. Among them, many perpetrators have not yet established the awareness of using the Internet correctly, especially those primary and middle school students who have not yet entered the society.
There are several reasons why minors occasionally appear in online crime groups. First of all, with the popularization of the Internet, minors have access to the Internet more and more early and have a higher rate of access. According to the survey data of the Report on Internet Use of Minors in China released at the end of last year, the online rate of minors in the past six months has reached 99.9%, significantly higher than the national Internet penetration rate, and the Internet has become an integral part of the growth and development of minors. Such a high Internet access rate reflects the depth and breadth of teenagers' Internet use, which, to a certain extent, increases the difficulty of relevant functional departments in preventing teenagers' Internet storm.
Another reason is that the real online real name system has not yet been implemented. Philosopher Han Bingzhe wrote in "In the Group: Popular Psychology in the Digital Media Era" that online violence is anonymous, which is precisely where its power lies. Name and respect go hand in hand, because name is the foundation of recognition, and recognition always refers to one's name. Although it is now necessary to enter a phone number to register for a social media account, and the account will display real-time IP location information, netizens still use it anonymously in practice. The anonymity of the internet makes the rights protection procedures for victims of cyberbullying more complex, requiring more time and effort to find the perpetrators.
In addition, the lack of media literacy education for teenagers has led some people to mistakenly believe that they can speak freely and freely on the internet. Media literacy refers to the ability of people to choose, evaluate, criticize, and create information when facing different media information. Today, we are in a media society, and many Internet platforms follow the information dissemination logic of "traffic is king", which also induces teenagers to contact or release these "flow only" online violence language, thus causing some minors to show moral cognitive, emotional and behavioral deviation in cyberspace.
Therefore, it is necessary for society to further strengthen media literacy education for minors. At the family level, the "primary group" represented by parents plays an important role in the early socialization process of children. On the one hand, parents should set an example to correctly use the Internet and guide children to establish a sense of empathy, so as to give more tolerance to different ideas and behaviors in the network. On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen collaboration between families, industries, and governments. For example, relevant industries need to provide tools for "parent management", such as information filtering and anti internet addiction systems.
In terms of school education, it is necessary to support the step-by-step promotion of media literacy education at each stage. Livingstone, a British communication scholar, believes that before children are exposed to the Internet, they must learn how to use the Internet - just as learning to read and write is a necessary condition for learning other content. As part of continuous learning, media literacy involves how young people can safely screen, access and release Internet information, especially in the use of smart phones.
In this regard, primary and secondary schools in various regions should take action and offer relevant media literacy courses to guide young people to improve their online literacy, cultivate correct awareness of online behavior, and cultivate good norms of online etiquette. In this process, in addition to simply instilling "what should be done" and "what should not be done" in children, it may be helpful to guide students to understand the complexity and harm of cyberbullying through scenario discussions, case analysis, and other methods, so as to have more empathy and restrain their words and actions in the online space.
Recently, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security jointly drafted a guiding opinion on the lawful punishment of online violence crimes. This opinion will help to punish illegal activities of online violence in accordance with the law, effectively safeguard the personal rights and interests of citizens, and maintain normal online order. The introduction of laws and regulations to combat online violence is the institutional foundation for ensuring media literacy education for minors. The strengthening of media literacy education also helps to create a clean and positive online space. Among them, it is undoubtedly crucial to guide teenagers to develop the ability to distinguish right from wrong in the online space, learn to respect others, and express their opinions correctly on social media.
