In this blog post, we examine the problems caused by social media legacies left unattended on the internet and the need for government-level management.

Raising the Issue

The term “social media legacy” refers to all social media services—including online communities, forums, and blogs—used by deceased individuals, as well as their personal data. This digital legacy began accumulating alongside the social media and online community boom of the early 2000s. As it has built up over time, the volume has become substantial and is causing various problems.
Due to the rapidly increasing number of internet users and the volume of digital records being produced, even though most current cases involve users who died in accidents, deaths from natural causes will steadily increase in the future, and digital legacies will emerge as an even greater social problem. In reality, most social media legacies are left abandoned on the internet, and in some countries, even bereaved families are legally unable to access them. For example, there was a case where the bereaved family of a victim in a past incident requested materials from a personal website operated by the deceased during their lifetime, but the company refused, citing its terms of service.
In 2010, there was an attempt to legislate regarding the handling of digital legacies, but it was effectively scrapped. In some countries, private venture companies have attempted to offer services to organize the deceased’s records on their behalf, but these remain limited to commercial services targeting only a very small portion of the population.

The Need for State-Led Organization — Reasons

The first reason is the explosive increase in data volume. The amount of photo and video data left behind by individuals through digital cameras, camcorders, and high-resolution smartphones is growing exponentially. Add to this voice recorders and CCTV footage for both public and private purposes, and the scale of data left behind by individuals becomes unimaginable.
The second reason is the increase in family and leisure records. Due to declining birth rates and an aging population, the proportion of records left by a single household has grown, and the variety of digital records accumulated by each generation—such as fetal ultrasound images, first birthday photos, event videos, and graduation photos—is expanding. The growing availability of multimedia devices for the elderly will also accelerate the accumulation of personal data.
As this neglected information piles up, it becomes difficult to manage through private companies or voluntary efforts alone. Over time, as neglected data accumulates like geological strata, future generations will face significant difficulties in utilizing this information. Since it is difficult to simply delete data based on the year it was created, a national-level system must be established from a public good perspective.
The third reason concerns objectivity and standards. Private standards are bound to vary from company to company. Some people may wish to preserve records permanently, while others may want them completely deleted. Therefore, a national standard is needed—such as establishing a mourning period for the deceased and liquidating data after that period—to allow for permanent or temporary preservation of data with preservation value through an application process.
The fourth reason concerns legal enforceability and implementation. If a server owner refuses to delete data or claims justification for retaining it, there must be legal authority to order the deactivation of the data’s exposure on the World Wide Web (WWW) on grounds of public interest. At the private-sector level, situations may arise where it is difficult to enforce deletion even with the individual’s consent.
The fifth reason is the potential for market failure. It is difficult for bereaved families to voluntarily bear the costs of organizing surplus information, and the low profitability makes it hard for private services to become widely available. Therefore, there is a need to establish a public institution funded by public money to support and manage the liquidation of social media legacies.

Implementation Plans and Conclusion

In summary, the state must recognize the importance of maintaining the internet environment and establish a system that mandates the liquidation of individuals’ social media legacies from a public good perspective. To this end, it is necessary to revise relevant laws, establish criteria for liquidation and preservation, and establish a public agency responsible for enforcement.
Furthermore, given the borderless nature of the internet, establishing standards through policy coordination among nations or international agreements is essential in the long term.
Failure to do so will exacerbate the degradation of the internet environment and inefficiencies in information utilization resulting from the explosive growth of personal data.
In conclusion, the handling of social media legacies transcends a mere private matter; it is a social and public issue. Therefore, rather than leaving it solely to the private sector and market logic, the state must take the lead in establishing systems and implementation frameworks.