Smartphone over-dependence among youth and young children worsened last year compared to the previous year, a government survey showed. Meanwhile, digital literacy levels among vulnerable groups and web accessibility have improved annually over the past five years.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) on Monday released key indicators related to digital inclusion policies, covering digital information gaps, web accessibility and smartphone over-dependence.
The survey found that the overall smartphone over-dependence risk ratio fell to 22.7% last year, down 0.2 percentage points from 22.9% the previous year. The ratio, which combines potential risk and high-risk groups, has declined for five consecutive years after peaking at 24.2% in 2021.
However, the over-dependence risk groups among youth and young children grew from the previous year when broken down by age.
The over-dependence risk group ratio reached 43.0% for youth (ages 10–19) and 26.0% for young children (ages 3–9) last year. The youth segment, which has the highest risk group ratio among all age groups, has seen the figure rise every year since 2019, when it stood at 30.2%.
The increase is attributed to changes in the digital environment, including the spread of short-form content, diversification of platforms and the expansion of generative AI services.
"The survey confirmed that key indicators reflecting our society's digital inclusiveness continue to improve," Hong Sung-wan, director of information and communications policy at MSIT, said. "We will do our best to build a healthy, digitally inclusive society, centered on the Digital Inclusion Act that took effect in January this year."
