Research on the Protection of Rights and Interests of the Elderly from the Perspective of Digital Justice

Abstract

In the digital society, the concept of justice has transcended physical boundaries and extended into virtual spaces composed of data and algorithms. Due to the digital divide, algorithmic black boxes, and lack of ethical norms, the elderly are becoming a “digitally vulnerable group,” and the rights dilemmas they face are essentially a multidimensional digital injustice. This study uses digital justice as the analytical framework to reveal the composite violations suffered by the elderly in terms of data justice, algorithmic justice, and intergenerational justice, specifically manifested as the loss of information rights in data collection, technological exclusion in algorithmic decision-making, and structural imbalances in intergenerational resource allocation. In response, a stepwise protection system should be established from “relief” to “empowerment” and then to “reshaping.” At the relief level, traditional services should be preserved, and channels for rights protection should be kept open; at the empowerment level, differentiated digital literacy education should be implemented; at the restructuring level, algorithmic ethics review should be promoted, and intergenerational compensation mechanisms should be established. Through this stepped protection pathway, we can correct the unjust patterns in the digital realm, ensure that technological achievements fairly benefit all people, and ultimately achieve the grand goal of digital justice.