Inheritance or "passing away", where does the social account of the deceased go?

Modern Express News (reporter Monsoon Rain) as a special "spiritual world symbol", the social account of modern people, is another self. No one knows which of tomorrow or accidents will come first, but they know how to plan ahead. In the "2021 China Will Bank White Paper" previously released, virtual property such as WeChat, QQ, Alipay, and game accounts is a common type of property in post-90s wills. However, the management of the deceased's personal account on various social platforms is different. So after death, who can decide your social account?

△ Data on the establishment of wills after 00. Image from the China Probate Bank white paper

status quo

Nearly 20% of the post-00s wills involve virtual property such as game accounts

With the development of society, in recent years, many young people have appeared in the group of will-making wills. The Modern Express reporter learned that this year's China Will Bank released the data of the post-00 will for the first time. The data shows that among the probate population in 2020-2021, there are a total of 223 "post-00s", an increase of 14.42% in the past year. Among them, 17.4% of the "post-00s" people made wills involving virtual property such as Alipay, WeChat, QQ, and game accounts.

Previously, many young people also faced the media camera and expressed their hearts. An accidental fire in Nanjing made the 26-year-old Hebei man Dai Tong make up his mind to make a will. "I saw a video of a husband who, in order to protect his wife, put his wife outside the balcony and grabbed his wife's hand to prevent the fall, but he was seriously burned." A few days later, his husband and wife passed away one after another, and through this incident, he felt that life was uncertain, and soon after he made a will. His will consisted mainly of real estate, deposits and virtual assets. On the one hand, virtual assets are Ether and NFT (non-homogeneous tokens), although their current value is not high, but there may be room for appreciation in the future. On the other hand, game accounts and cloud disks mean far more to him than the former, they represent his youth and sweat. More importantly, Daitong hopes that his parents and family can see the bits and pieces of their lives.

Xiao Rui, born in 2000, also made a will. "I want to leave all my virtual property to my sister. Today's young people love to play games, and maybe in the future I will be exposed to the metaverse of fire, but as far as I know, many virtual assets are difficult to legally inherit as inheritance. The most reassuring thing for me is whether the details I care about can be effectively guaranteed by making a will. ”

Hot discussion

What happens to social media accounts after death? Netizens are talking hotly

How to deal with social media accounts after the death of a person has always been a hot topic, handing over accounts to immediate family members, seeking the consent of relatives and destroying them... There are all sorts of answers.

In the discussion, some netizens are more comfortable, they believe that people have passed away, and the ownership of social accounts does not matter.

However, some netizens hope to introduce a reasonable policy, after all, this is the trace of their own existence. "Let future generations remember, indicating that we have come to this world, as a historical record" "Inheritance, after all, some things are like diaries, of course, I hope that operators can formulate reasonable policies" "My social account is estimated to be inherited, after all, I only have the right to use, but can I package and download the content, pictures, and videos published during my use? That's the spiritual wealth of my life! ”

platform

Each operator disposes of the deceased's account differently

On the Internet, the deceased leaves countless accounts, and behind each account is either a living life course or the deceased's spiritual thinking. However, some of these accounts are inherited or managed by family members, but most of them are left unattended and self-destructive. The handling of deceased accounts varies from network platform operator to network platform operator.

In September 2020, Weibo administrators issued an announcement on the protection of "deceased accounts". Weibo said that in order to protect the privacy of the deceased and prevent the deceased's account from being stolen, the station will set a "protection status" for the deceased's account, and after setting, the account will not be able to log in, cannot send new content, cannot delete content, and cannot change the status. Weibo said that if the relatives of the deceased have special requirements, after providing relevant certification materials (death certificate + household registration book / marriage certificate valid content photo / scan) to Weibo, Weibo will hand over the deceased account to his relatives, but the account can only be logged in to commemorate the occasion, and cannot publish new content and change account settings.

On December 24, 2020, Bilibili Danmaku Network issued a notice saying: From today onwards, for B station users who unfortunately passed away, we will list their accounts as "commemorative accounts" and protect them after obtaining the confirmation and consent of their immediate family members, so as to commemorate that they once existed in the same world as us, once saw the same scenery, and rejoiced or saddened for the same things. The practice of Bilibili Danmaku Network has also attracted wide recognition from netizens.

The relevant person in charge of Douban said that for users whose platform has confirmed their deceased status, the platform will transfer them to the deceased state. In order to ensure the security of the account, the account will be locked and protected, and the original binding information will be unbound and login will no longer be supported. Their close relatives can cancel their accounts or resume normal status by submitting relevant information.

law

Virtual property is protected by law and can be inherited

After death, which party should dispose of the virtual property? People in the legal profession have their own opinions.

The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on 1 January 2021, adjusts the scope of inheritance and expands the scope of inheritance to "personal lawful property left behind at the time of the death of a natural person". Heng Xiaochun, a lawyer at Jiangsu Shundian Law Firm, analyzed that in this way, the legitimately owned Q coins, game accounts, skins and other network properties and virtual currencies may be inherited.

This statement has also been applied by the courts in trials. In January 2022, the Bijie Intermediate People's Court released a case in which Zhou and Zou had a dispute over network infringement of virtual property, thereby citing virtual property such as network accounts, virtual currency, and game props, which are protected by law and can be inherited. However, it should be noted that the application of inheritance rules distinguishes between network digital property and network services. First, only those that are clearly separable from the data platform, have their own independent use value, and can be exported or converted, such as email data, personal posts in online accounts, game role equipment, virtual currency, etc., which are legitimate personal property of citizens, can be inherited. Second, the data and network virtual property formed based on the acceptance of services provided by network service providers are generally not personal legal property and cannot be inherited.