Internet addiction prevention and treatment into the law, electric shock treatment has also been called for prohibition
After seven years of implementation, the current law on the protection of minors will usher in the first 'overhaul'. The 14th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, which opened on October 21, will consider the revised draft law on the protection of minors and the revised draft law on the prevention of juvenile delinquency, the Beijing News reported. According to the press conference of the law working committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the prevention and control of Internet addiction, that is, the prevention and control of Internet addiction, is to be written into the law on the protection of minors.
The prevention and treatment of Internet addiction into the law is not abrupt. Nowadays, Internet addiction has become a global social problem. In May this year, the World Health Organization adopted the draft of the 11th edition of the international classification of diseases, which officially recognized 'game addiction' as a mental disease with the same nature as gambling addiction.
According to the relevant statistics of the Health Commission, the proportion of global teenagers over relying on the Internet is 6%, the proportion in China is close to 10%, and the situation in rural areas is more serious than that in urban areas. If this momentum is not curbed, it will undoubtedly damage the physical and mental health of minors.
Legislation should be made in due course. It is the common practice of countries all over the world to strengthen the network legislative protection of minors. Although China has issued the Interim Measures for the management of online games and the opinions on Strictly Standardizing the management of online game market, it is still not enough compared with the actual demand.
Previously, the legislative work on the prevention and control of Internet addiction was actually advancing - in January 2017, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council published the regulations on the protection of minors' Internet (Draft for approval) (hereinafter referred to as the regulations), and once invited representatives of teenagers, netizens, parents and educators to participate in the discussion. It stipulates that families, schools and society have the responsibility to prevent and intervene minors from indulging in the Internet; Minors are prohibited from using online game services from 0:00 to 8:00 every day.
But up to now, this "regulation" has not been issued, and the revised draft of the law on the protection of minors is ready to come out. The reason is that although there are still disputes related to the provisions such as "restricting online game services", from the perspective of the legislative principle that the lower law must obey the upper law, it is better to revise the juvenile protection law first, and then legislate the lower level regulations according to the spirit of the upper law, so as to maintain the unity between laws and regulations.
From the legislative content, although they all involve the prevention and control of Internet addiction, there should be a big difference between the revised law on the protection of minors and the regulations.
Based on the abstraction of the law and the universality of the scope of protection, the revised law on the protection of minors should standardize the general principles in the prevention and control of Internet addiction, including clarifying the responsibilities of families, schools and society in the prevention and control of Internet addiction, the classification of online games, etc; The more operable contents, including the responsibilities, tasks and punishment standards of 'Internet addiction prevention and control', can be further standardized with the help of the regulations.
It should be emphasized that legislation regulates the prevention and control of Internet addiction, and the measures and means can be flexible and diverse, but its purpose is also to protect the rights and interests of minors and protect them from 'Internet addiction'. Since it is for protection, we should also hold a bottom line in the prevention and treatment of Internet Addiction - that is to prevent chaos such as violent abuse or coercion, including 'electric shock treatment of Internet addiction', and protect the legitimate rights and interests of minors.
According to previous reports, chaos is still frequent in the prevention and treatment of Internet addiction. Some local anti Internet addiction training camps run in violation of the law take savage methods such as abuse, beating and detention, and there are cases of minors being infringed and killed. Some 'prevention and treatment methods' that violate medical common sense and laws, such as electric shock treatment, will also cause serious consequences that are difficult to repair for minors' body and mind.
For these practical problems, the legislative level may also wish to give a resounding response, making it clear that the entry of Internet addiction prevention and control into the law is not equal to opening the eyes to 'electric shock treatment' and other rough means. Like the regulations to be issued before, it has been made clear that no organization or individual shall engage in the prevention and intervention of minors' addiction to the Internet through abuse, coercion and other illegal means, damage minors' physical and mental health and infringe upon minors' legitimate rights and interests.
In the final analysis, it is necessary to take advantage of the revision of the law on the protection of minors to standardize the 'prevention and control of Internet addiction' with the times. While referring to the experience of other countries and legislating to regulate the rights and obligations of all parties, it is also appropriate to clarify the red line of "getting rid of Internet addiction" by means of violence, abuse and coercion, so as to better protect the rights and interests of minors.